A hundred Bumblebys
by Arkhadios
Summary: I've taken on a 100 theme writing challenge, and I've decided to make it all around Bumbleby / Bumblebee. There will probably be some AU and everything that might come to my mind. Mostly shamelessly fluff bees though... Rated M 'cause I'm not sure of how far I'll go, but I'll put extra rating if needed on top of each chapter (around 500 words each). Enjoy ! Art by YangtheFoxFaunus
1. 1 - Home

Written entirely while listening to Jeff Williams' "Home" RWBY OST

* * *

The house was quiet, peaceful even. Not a single ruckus, not a presence to be felt, though it didn't feel abandoned. No, the house wasn't abandoned, it was just sleeping peacefully, waiting for it's owners to get back from the dreamlands. As if this complete silence was a signal, somewhere in the rooms, someone started to wail. It was a young, frail voice desperately calling for a reassuring presence to chase away darkness and fears… the voice of a young baby, its little lungs breathing rapidly as it awakened from what seemed to be a nightmare.

Soon enough, someone else awoken in the house, and rapid footsteps could be heard through the entire building, which from suffocating became comforting. As if the house itself wanted to comfort its occupants. A door creaked open, and a tall, strong woman entered the baby's bedroom slowly humming a bedtime song. A song that had been passed to her by her mother, a song that she would pass to her daughter when times would be right, a song about family and peace.

Her lilac, tired eyes trailed on the bed and on her daughter's perfect skin as she got closer, picking up what had become her hopes, her future… She then started pacing around the room, ever so slowly, hoping to lull her baby back to sleep before the last inhabitant of the small house would wake up. Yang knew it was most unlikely, but perhaps today she could avoid waking the surprisingly slumber-sleeping beauty that was her wife… Perhaps today, or tonight, or whatever time it was, didn't need Blake to wake up.

She kept humming, observing her adoptive daughter with a loving smile. She had blue eyes, and her hair – even if it was sparse – was starting to take a beautiful reddish shade. She looked nothing like her parents but Monty, how much she reminded them of each other. Her wailing had stopped, and she was just cooing, observing her blonde of a mother with a glimpse of curiosity in her eyes. With a renewed smile, Yang thought that she was probably wondering where her other mommy was.

Another sound softly broke the silence of the room, as the door opened again to leave way to an exhausted Blake. A few strands of her cobalt hair were randomly tucked behind her ears, while the rest of it was simply abandoned to their own will, and her black, sleeveless nightgown was half out of place. Her amber eyes, ordinarily so brilliant and living, were somber and tired, and anyone could have thought that she wasn't attentive, if it wasn't for her alert ears moving back and forth as her mother's instincts kicked out sleep.

"Hey beauty…" Yang murmured slowly

"You're flattering me" Blake answered on the same tone, with a smile

"Look who's there? It's mommy"

Still smiling, Yang accepted Blake's gentle tap on her shoulder as a manifestation of her vexation, before passing her daughter to her wife's arms. She didn't know why, but it seemed that Blake was the only one able to send Luna into the kingdom of dreams. Moving closer to the raven-haired deity – at least in her opinion – she slowly placed her arms around her waist, gently accompanying Blake's slow movements and resuming her singing.

Sighing, their daughter finally fell asleep as they both sung softly.

"Yes I know that when I'm with you I'm at home…"


	2. 2 - Love

I don't know if anyone has any interest in this but… how about I tell you which song inspired me during every chapter? Today's was written listening to Panic! At the Disco "Dying in LA". Hope you'll enjoy!

* * *

The night had fallen on Beacon pretty fast, as if a veil of stars had been delicately placed upon the sky. Truth be told, the schools' cliffs were probably the best place for stargazing, after the cold towers of a deserted Atlas of course. But Yang, even if she was indeed planning to gaze on the beautiful midnight sky, mostly wanted a peaceful, hidden place where she could think peacefully and maybe order up some of her thoughts. That's why she wasn't even considering the cliffs, preferring a quick jump from the library's balcony onto the rooftops. She wasn't exactly allowed to do so, seeing as the rooftops could get slippery and deadly, so she made sure to get out of anyone's possible view as fast as humanly possible by climbing, sliding and jumping to and from various structures. She had a goal in mind, a specific place: a flat part of the school surrounded by walls and roofs and completely hidden from the rest of the school. A place where the only direction you could stare at was the sky.

She slid down the last few meters separating her from her destination, and almost jumped when she saw a shadow moving almost right under her nose. Coal hair, amber eyes, cat ears and a mischievous though surprised smile… that could only be Blake, reading some of her smut out of Ruby's innocent sight.

"Hey, you found my reading hideout. What brought you here?" Blake said with a smile, visibly not annoyed in the slightest by the interruption.

"Your reading hideout? Funny, I thought I was the only one coming up here to have some peace… I workout here almost every morning." she said before sitting down, legs crossed

"I read here almost every night." Blake added before opening her book again, readying herself to resume her reading

"Hey Blake, I know it might sound silly but… Earlier, I saw Jaune and Pyrrha talking, and I started thinking…"

"You, thinking? That must have been a shock!" a small chuckle escaped the Beauty's lips

"I'm serious," Yang said, even if she couldn't help but smile at the intervention. "I was thinking about Love."

"Love?"

"Love… You know, seeing how those two are so obviously head over heels for each other and how they both fail to notice it… I started wondering how exactly you're supposed to know what Love is."

Blake was now staring at her, the book long forgotten on her knees. Saying nothing, she made an ever so slight movement, gesturing Yang to pursue.

"I couldn't get the thought out of my head… I started thinking that since there's probably as much ways of loving as there are stars in this sky, it's most unlikely that you'd know what true love is. Is it as bright and obvious as the sun? Cold and hard to access as this one?" she pointed toward the smallest prick of bluish light in the cerulean sky, before turning to Blake. "How are we supposed to know when we found it, if we can't even imagine what Love truly is?"

"Well… that's a truly good question," Blake started, turning her golden mind toward the celestial canopy. "I've asked it to myself a few times now, and I'm not even sure there is an answer. But I found something else while wondering." Her eyes trailed on the constellations, before coming back to stare in Yang's. "We don't care."

"We don't care?"

"We don't care." She emphasized with a smile. "Who cares about knowing if love is true or not? Like you said, there is as many ways of loving as there's stars in the sky… So, there's no point in searching the right one. There is no such thing as a right way, there's just… your way."

Staring in the shiny reflect of the moon in the golden universe that was her irises, Yang couldn't agree more. There was no right star, and as the storm of thoughts and worries slowly calmed in her mind, she knew one thing for sure. She had found her star, her very own Evening star. Deep in those eyes.

* * *

Thanks for reading, and truly thanks to the two reviewers. It's incredibly grateful when people you don't know say that they like your work, truly.

I had a little more trouble writing this one, since I basically put the challenge's theme around Love, but I think I made something quite good with it. Do not hesitate to review if you enjoy it !

See you tomorrow pals


	3. 3 - Light

Written while listening to Powerwolf's "Incense and Iron". I recommend it by the way, it gives a special medieval feel to this fic!

* * *

A young page came running across the throne room, rapidly taking his due place and announcing with a clear and strong voice:

"Your Highness, ladies and gentlemen… Sir Yang Xiao Long, Battle Lioness, High Marshal of Light and Aegis of Justice."

His phrase was barely ended when the two immense doors burst open, music from a full orchestra and the crowd's joyous cheering invading the room as a tall knight entered the room. Her armor was of the purest white with gold embroidering, a true masterpiece of craftsmanship. A red and golden cape was lightly blown by the wind while the knight made her way on the blood-red carpet toward the throne, her helmet secured under her right arm. Two luminescent feathers emerged from it, trophy she had claimed after saying the mighty Alicanto that was tormenting Vale's inhabitants.

Marching proudly toward the crystal throne to which she had sworn allegiance to, the Light Knight stopped just before the flight of stairs and kneeled down in respect for her monarch.

"Your Highness, you have summoned me?" Yang said, her voice easily covering the ruckus around.

Of course, she knew why she was here, it was an official ceremony. She was only repeating the formal text she had been given, as had done every High Marshal of Light before her. Truth be told, she knew that she was here to renew her allegiance, but she was curious as to see who would be the next High Marshal of Dark. The last one had been a strong-willed, psychopathic guy with bull horns, that had been executed for attempt of high treason not a month ago. As of tradition, his name was banned for the rest of the Queen's reign, and he was only to be referred to as 'the traitor' but that had no importance to Yang right now.

Another page had come, passing through one of the windows. He caught his breath before announcing with the same tone as his peer:

"Your Highness, ladies and gentlemen… Marquess Blake Belladonna, High Marshal of Darkness."

The absence of following title wasn't really surprising. The High Marshal of Darkness was the official title for the leader of every assassination or spying guilds. It was, much clearly, the 'dark' part of the kingdom's protection, even though the High Marshal was considered nobility and very respected, would it be Light or Darkness. What was more surprising to Yang though, was said Marshal's felinity. And arrival.

As if she had been hidden in the shadows of the roof all along – and she probably was – she fell from one of the supporting beams, achieving a full and graceful flip mid-air and landing directly at Yang's right, kneeling down. Now closer, she could see the onyx plated armor that was covering her, with each crimson engraving. She had no cape, but that was probably to allow her flawless entry into the throne room. The Queen suddenly stood up, bringing the knight's attention back to the ceremony at hand.

"High Marshals, I have indeed summoned you. You are not without knowing that with the Traitor's defection, a new Marshal of Darkness had to be named. Marquess Blake, of the house Belladonna, you have been chosen amongst the Faunus to ensure the kingdom's stability from the shadows. Do you fully know and accept your burden?"

"I do, your Highness."

"Your heart is brave, and you speak with honesty, though no one can roam on the road of such responsibility without a proper guide. Sir Yang, of the house Xiao Long, you have been chosen amongst the humans to ensure the kingdom's stability from the light. Do you agree to accompany the Marquess during her first steps as a High Marshal?"

"I do, your Highness"

"Then I, Weiss Schnee the Just, Queen of Vale and ruler of Patch, hereby declare you linked through light and darkness as the High Marshals of my kingdom." The Queen said formally, while every word was duly noted on an official parchment.

In a perfectly synchronized movement, both marshals stood up and turned to face each other. They then solemnly seized their daggers, emblem of their function, and linked their right arm. A second of silence passed, just enough time for them to synchronize their mantra.

"In Light or Dark, in peace or war, I dedicate my life to the protection of the kingdom. High Marshal, your death is mine and we shall share it on the battlefield, for I swear to protect you with my own life." Both said, arms still intertwined and daggers still in hand.

Both were staring deep into each other's eyes, only to find and unyielding determination. That wasn't just a ceremonial, that was a promise they both intended to keep, and deep inside Yang made another promise: she had sworn her death, and she would spend her life learning to know the Beauty that was in front of her. What she didn't know was that said Beauty made the exact same promise, deep within her heart.

They parted ways, and they returned to their immiscible realms, but something had changed. In the few seconds that the ceremonial had lasted, a glimpse of Darkness had come to Yang. And wherever Blake would go, she would be accompanied by the memory of Light.

* * *

I really loved imagining and writing this AU, and if I ever find a good plot, I'll sure write some more about it ! Also, this chapter is a duet with tomorrow's, so stay tuned for the next part of the history.

As always, I hope you enjoyed, and see you tomorrow !


	4. 4 - Dark

Today's song was Jeff Williams' "All That Matters". Yeah, I know, the lyrics are a bit off regarding the fic… But I'm listening to it mostly for the calm love vibes it has.

* * *

Blake was… nervous of course. And beaming with joy. And incredulous. And overall, confused by the storm of emotions that she was experiencing H24 since last month. How could she even think about remaining calm? She had meticulously planned each and every aspect of the ceremony, but now was D-day. Or W-day, considering that she was about to get married.

Thinking about it still felt irreal. This wedding would break… so much old traditions that it was a miracle it was even authorized. Smiling, she thought about the incredible conjecture of happenings that had made it possible: first of all, the old king's sudden death before his only heiress could be married, putting the kingdom's reins in the hands of a strong-willed woman. Second, said woman's decision to ennoble what was at this time a clandestine female squire into the first ever knight woman, and to replace the old court councilor by the jester's daughter that was displaying quite impressive skills in managing the whole territory.

Third was of course, her naming as the High Marshal of Darkness to which she was still thinking as a fond memory. Her chance to meet the Aegis of justice, the angel that had kindly and patiently accompanied her firsts steps on the path for the kingdom's protection. That had in fact, accompanied every step she had made since their encounter… the memory of Light engraved in her heart. The woman that was now waiting for her at the altar, probably as nervous as she currently was.

And last but not least, was each time death choose to wait, refusing to take any of them away from the living world despite the numerous battlefields they had known, side to side.

She checked her reflection one last time, once again admiring the court dressmakers' talent in the delicates swirls of her amaranthine dress. They had found a subtle balance between Faunuses and human traditions, making the bust simple and form-fitting while the skirt was much more evanescent. She flattened the lasts folds on her dark evening gloves, slightly tilted the golden circlet on her forehead, loving the deep reflections in the sapphire that was decorating it, and finally spared a smile for the simple, golden earrings that her mother had lent to her on that special occasion. Something old, something new, something blue, something borrowed… As a black cat, she probably shouldn't have been that superstitious.

But she couldn't just push back her entrance again and again. The music was starting to play, and she had to make her firsts steps in the garden. She didn't want her fiancée to think that she was backing out. She breathed deeply, and finally got in the brilliant sun. They had chosen to celebrate their marriage secluded, in the castle gardens, and the only one present were both families, the Queen, her councilor and the jester. There was no priest, as none of them had wanted to celebrate what they called 'a blasphemy' and the Queen herself was presiding the ceremony in her capacity of the church's head.

The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur… The vibrant benediction of their parents, the Queen's quick informal address about their loyalty and the happiness she wished them, the pristine white of Yang's suit rivaling with the altar's splendor, the bridesmaid which was actually Yang's young squire…

They had, in what seemed a lifetime ago, sworn to share each other's death. But here, in a sunny garden surrounded by friends and family, they swore to share each other's life.

An entire world of opportunities opened before them, a world where the Light had merged in with the Dark.

* * *

I'm a little bit disappointed on this one… Turns out a little less how I thought it'd be. Also a little more far-fetched regarding the theme, but I really wanted to construct a mirror with the previous fic so…

Anyway, hope you'll like it. And as always, I'll see you tomorrow


	5. 5 - Exodus

Today was Raven Age's "Age of the Raven" – I know, heavy naming skills.

* * *

Beacon was falling. For hours, maybe days now. There was chaos and death, lurking all around in the shadows and diving from the sky in an erratic rain of blood, bones and anger. Everywhere she looked, her eyes fell upon tortured corpses and ruins, only remain of the once great and powerful city of Vale. But she couldn't stop and cry on the tombstones of her peaceful life, she had to fly. As far and as fast as she could, taking part to the great exodus bleeding the streets from their inhabitants, helping when she could. Always remembering this one time she couldn't.

Sleep was rare, if not nonexistent, and even the few naps she forced herself to take were never resting, as she was prey to nightmares. The last one was still vivid in her mind, and it came crashing on her once again as she was splashed by the tar-like blood of the Grimm she had just murdered.

Darkness everywhere, an infinite amount of coal emptiness in which she was running. Was she running from or to something? Did she even have a direction, a goal? Suddenly, something flickered on her right, a small light that gave her a purpose. She started running toward it, and the flame grew over and over again, slowly shaping in a humanoid, smiling shape that was extending an arm toward her. Then, a sudden as the flicker, a sea of blood rumbling and gurgling surged from behind the unsuspecting flame… Valiantly fighting against the apocalypse in bloodred rapidly drowning it, the fire spirit, still smiling, had one last gesture towards Blake… a wink. And then it disappeared, the braveness of its heart unable to stand against the red liquid that was polluting the air with a toxic smell of iron and burned flesh. The only light remaining was a sickly bright red motive that was too familiar to her.

She came back to reality lightning fast, having to keep moving to stay alive… She was almost automatically slaying the monsters on her road, knowing that the greater of them was living inside her heart where she could never slay it. She run as if her life was at stake, knowing very well that she'd never run far and fast enough and leaving a single teardrop on the concrete as a trace of her existence. Somewhere deep inside, she wanted everyone to forget about her as she remembered every single moment. She wanted to suffer, for all the pain she had brought to other.

That's why she refused to herself the cowardice of death… she was already enough of a wimp leaving everyone behind at the slightest issue. She deserved to remember, rehash, over and over again each and every single mistake she had made leading to this fateful day of exodus. Exodus from her past life, from peace, from a city, from friends, from her very heart and soul she had severed one too many times. From the one mistake she would never forgive herself for, from the one hope and love she would never forget.

Exodus from Yang.

* * *

So how'd you like this one? Hope it was still great, despite its shortness... and theme

Anyway, onward to tomorrow !


	6. 6 - Revolver

No particular song… Just let Spotify run in the background from 'March of the Varangian Guard' (Turisas – Stand up and Fight)

* * *

"Yang no."

"Come on Blake, it will be fun!"

"Yang, you can't use Gambol Shroud to play Russian roulette."

"But why?"

"I can't believe you're seriously asking me. You can't play Russian roulette with an automatic!"

"But…"

"No buts."

This conversation, that had taken place a few days ago, was still roaming in Blake's mind. Something – perhaps her Faunus' instincts – was telling her that it was not over. Was it Yang's determined tone when she had first spoke about Russian roulette? Her funny but tiring way to always end up having what she wanted? Shaking her head, she tried to get rid of those thoughts as she was walking back to the dorm. Having little to no success, she sighed and swiftly avoided a hyperactive Nora a few seconds before entering her own dorm. She was glad to finally get some time and calm, letting out a smile as she readied herself for one of her favorite activities: reading.

But seeing Yang sitting in the middle of the room with a joyous smile she knew she had to re-think her plans. And trust her sixth sense a little more next time.

"Yang, I can't believe you. You seriously bought a revolver JUST for playing Russian roulette?" there was no way in hell to sound more exasperated than Blake did.

"Oh, come on, it's fun! Come play with me!"

"There is no way in hell that I'm gonna play this. Do you not have any will to live?"

"First, our auras would totally deflect the bullets. And second, I knew you'd say that. Those are rubber bullets, and this is no ordinary revolver. It's just a kid's game Blakey, come on play with me! Don't tell me you're a scaredy cat?" the blondie replied, a confident smile plastered on her lips.

She had already won, and she knew it. Could there be one day when Blake would actually be able to say no to her requests? Sitting on the carpet, legs crossed and facing the brawler, Blake thought that it was most unlikely.

"I'll do it, to one condition. One game only, after what you will let me read in peace. Deal?"

"Deal!"

Yang was truly too joyous regarding a game that was supposedly deadly. Picking up the revolver, she showed Blake that there was indeed a single bullet in the chamber, before taking a serious face and spinning the chamber. She ten delicately put the gun back between them, staring at Blake.

"So… who's gonna go first?" Blake asked, hesitantly.

"Well usually ladies go first, but I guess it ain't helping us out. How about I be a gentleman and let you choose?" Yang said, motioning toward the gun

Taking the suspicious piece of metal, Blake hesitated for a second, before placing it against her head.

"Why am I doing this, again?" she said before closing her eyes and firing.

CLICK

Relieved, she passed it on to Yang, still a bit confused at how something completely inoffensive could stress her that much.

CLICK

"Looks like I get to live another day! So, nervous? One of four is a loss!" she said, passing it on to Blake again

"Seriously… You're lucky I love you."

"Awww, confessing before you put your life at stake?"

"Shut it."

CLICK

"Whoo, Badass! My turn!"

CLICK

Blake took the revolver with a measured, if not relative fear. It was reduced to a coinflip now, and even if she knew it couldn't hurt her in any way, the pressure had built up immensely at every empty chamber firing.

"What's up Blakey? You're being a…" Yang now had her punny-smile full on. "Pussy?"

"Now I'm really tempted to point that gun on you, you know?"

"That wouldn't be game!"

Sighing, she shrugged and put the gun back to her head.

CLICK

She was about to smile widely, when another noise came from the gun. Eyes widening as she realized it was too late to avoid the bullet or actually do anything against it, she froze in anticipation. What she wasn't ready for was the splash of water that soaked her to the bone, and the thrilling laugh of her partner.

"You… You knew it?" she stammered, gun still in hand and still frozen from the shock.

"I swear I didn't know when it was going to fire!" Yang said between a scoff and a laugh. "But yeah, I knew it was wa… water!" And she burst out laughing again, visibly very pleased by her little trick.

She stopped laughing just in time to see Blake bouncing – yeah bouncing, from a sitting position… amazing what strong emotions can make you do – yet too late to avoid it… Pinned to the ground by a very irritated Blake, she swallowed hard, thinking that maybe she had gone a little bit too far this time. But there was something else in those eyes, a glimpse that mad her think that Blake was just trying to get her revenge somehow, jokingly. This new information in mind, she easily turned back the tables to her favor, rolling to her side until she overhung the raven-haired cat.

"How about I make this up to you?" she said smiling

Slowly closing the space between them, she softly placed her lips on Blake's who returned the kiss full force. One more time reassured that she hadn't gone too far, she started deepening the kiss…

CLICK

The revolver, empty and useless, clicked against her head. And she smiled against Blake's lips.

* * *

Was actually inspired for this one! Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought of this, I really like to read your reviews.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this little Russian roulette, and see you tomorrow pals!


	7. 7 - Heaven

Led Zepplin's "Stairway to Heaven" was played again and again during the writing.

* * *

"So that's what Heaven look like?" Blake said, slowly taking in the surroundings

"You're saying it wrong, but yeah… that's it." Yang replied with a smile, still surprised that they were all here.

After the fall of Beacon, all the deaths and chaos everywhere when all hope seemed lost… In the end they found themselves, back to a reassuring place with the people they had grown close to. All of them, indeed… Since there was a silhouette in the faraway landscape.

"Is that… Is that Pyrrha?" Jaune said, tears coming to his eyes

Without waiting for a response, he ran toward the silhouette, soon followed by the rest of team RWBY and JNRR. And that was indeed Pyrrha, but only a memorial statue erected in her honor, in the kingdom that had seen her grow. She was dead, and not coming back, would they be around Vale or at Haven Academy. Jaune fell to his knees, dropping his weapons and a single tear on the ground, before saying in a whisper:

"For a second I… I really thought she was back."

The statue was a wonderful tribute to her past glory, as she was depicted victoriously standing over the Grimm dragon's corpse. A wonderful tribute but an awful treason to the harsh reality of the facts as well…

Feeling tears coming up to her too, Yang turned away… only to lay her eyes on Blake, seeming guiltier than ever. It was time for them to discuss a little. Slightly touching the Faunus' shoulder and motioning her toward another part of the school, they both went to a more secluded garden. Once alone, Blake raised her hand and opened her mouth, as if she was about to say something, but thought better at the last second… Looking down in defeat, she had guilt crawling all over herself and it truly hurt Yang.

Every resentment the blondie had felt against her melted away with the simple observation that Blake had suffered as much as she had, perhaps even more. She placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, using the other to raise her head a little, just enough to be able to look at her straight in the eyes.

"Hey Blakey, chin up. I'm not mad, I'm just glad you came back." With a smile, she drowned in the golden of her eyes, suddenly remembering why losing her had felt so harsh on her.

Of course, it had brought back unpleasant memories of her mother's abandon, but there was more than that. A 'more' that currently took the form of a skipped beat as she realized for the second time how wonderful was the woman in front of her. How mad she had fell for her.

"Yang I…" Blake started, abruptly interrupted by tears. "I'm so sorry… I ran, and I never should have… I… I was scared and when I saw Adam hurt you I just… thought it was for the best that you'd never see me again…"

Yang waited patiently for her to be ready to pursue, using this little pause to wipe off the tears that had slowly fallen on the Beauty's cheeks.

"I was selfish… I never should have hurt you that much… but he said he was going to destroy everything I loved and… I panicked. I… I didn't want you to get hurt by my fault anymore." The words, as difficult as they were to say, seemed to relieve her of an unbearable weight.

"Hey hey, hush your tears. See? We're both here, We're both fine. That's all that matters, don't you think?" She tilted her head with a smile, barely thinking about how furious she had been when she first found out Blake had run.

Blake made a hesitant step toward her, before suddenly rushing to hug her as if there were no tomorrow.

"I'm so sorry…"

Hugging back, Yang could only think that she was glad. Glad that she was wearing her gloves, avoiding a possible relapse of guilt because of her metallic arm. Glad that in the end, the future didn't seem so bleak. Glad that Blake had come back. Glad that Haven was safe, and that there was finally a safe Heaven for the people she knew and loved.

* * *

Little less inspired by the theme, all I could come up with was a poor play on the words between Haven and Heaven... Though it allowed me to write what I'd really like to see in volume 6. Not necessarily that way, but I think they REALLY need to talk after all that happened.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it nonetheless, and see you tomorrow !


	8. 8 - Innocence

Kamelot's Anthem was today's inspiration. And I think we're all lucky I avoided a PG-18 novel about 'losing innocence' *wink wink*

* * *

Being imprisoned wasn't what hurt the most. Being imprisoned even though she was innocent was worst, but bearable. Seeing herself blatantly punching Mercury when she was sure he had attacked first was disturbing. Seeing the confused mix of distrust and disgust in Blake's eyes was tearing her apart.

She was going round in circles like a cat in a bag, both physically and mentally. As she reached one wall, and then the other of her small cell, her mind was playing again and again the previous events, trying to find a logic, a reason why the things she had seen weren't real. Trying to grasp at the last straws of her hopeful sanity. Trying to convince herself that she wasn't mad, that she wasn't a monster.

Guilt, strangely, was absent of her thoughts. As if she knew better than to trust the video recording, as if she was certain of her innocence. As if somehow, she could be cleaned of all doubts and accusations, even with the whole world as a witness of her crimes.

The cell was of an unsupportable white, a white that reminded her of asylums and hospitals, a white that plunged her a little deeper in despair each second… A white that, in return, was unable to hide the obvious black of Blake's hair and clothes. For a split second, Yang had the bad luck to experience the feeling of her heart skipping a beat and shriveling simultaneously, which made her dolorously close her eyes, praying that her partner hadn't seen it. As she still wasn't facing her, there was a tenuous chance.

Opening her eyes but unable to chase sadness from her eyes, she turned to the silvery bars separating her from her teammate. They stared at each other for a second before Yang opened her mouth, about to say something… and closed it, resigned. There was nothing she could say, nothing she could argue. Nothing that would make things better, nor explain her behavior… Nothing that wouldn't send her straight to the madmen house anyway.

Looking down, Blake sighed before making a slight step toward the gate and raising her eyes again. In those eyes, Yang saw defiance, hurt but also hope. Hope that she could explain everything? Once again, her heart was squished by her inability to make everything better, to put a smile on the face of those she loved. She too made a step toward the grid, having a single solution to provide to this thorny issue. Staring deep inside the amber eyes facing her, she opened her heart. If eyes were the windows of the soul, perhaps Blake could see through her as she had seen her emotions. Perhaps she would see more than sadness, despair and love. Perhaps she would see her innocence.

A second out of time found them staring in each other eyes, two souls poles apart desperately trying to communicate, two lost beings trying to overcome a major issue. But everything must end, and this evanescent second came crashing back on reality with the brutal sound of the alarm signaling the end of the visits. Sighing once again, Blake let her fingers lingering on the metal a little more before finally giving up and leaving, without a word having said. Seeing her disappear, Yang was tempted to collapse and cry.

Communication, as her Innocence, seemed lost and irremediably broken.

* * *

Sorry for the sad vibe, I just feel more like it lately.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you all tomorrow !


	9. 9 - Ancient

Kamelot's "Under Grey Skies" was playing in the background… over and over again. PS: Sorry for the late update, I just didn't see time flow today...

* * *

As far as mankind remembered, there has always been Grimms lurking in the shadows of the souls, roaming the world and preying on their dark emotions. Killing with no reason, brutalizing humans and Faunus alike, crushing them under the sheer force of their number. Grimms were as they had always been: a faceless monstrosity, perfects predators that hadn't felt the need to evolve since the dawn of times.

As clouded that could have been the future, mankind had slowly but surely emerged from the darkness, bringing hope and life to the void that was the world before that, and even if they were still fighting an endless horde of Grimm, the mere thought that they had made a step toward a safer time was enough to embrace the more hopeful heart, spreading their will to fight and values through the continents under the common name of Hunters and Huntresses.

Grimms were as old as the world, but perhaps they were vanquished by something even more ancient. Something that had allowed the world to start breathing, the time to start flowing and something that the Grimms were reluctant to approach. Solidarity, compassion and trust are all like barriers restraining the Grimms; of course, they don't protect entirely… but seeing how the creatures feast on the places infected with negative emotions, how could anyone not see the links?

Those three barriers share the same motor: love. In a world where hatred could lead to a complete annihilation of mankind, the simple act of comforting a friend and sharing love became vital for the preservation of civilizations altogether.

To Blake and Yang, seated side by side on Beacon's cliffs, overhanging kilometers of fall and city, stargazing, there was no need of a reminder. Not a word was spoken, tenderness simply expressed through the delicate touch of their skins, the synchronized beating of their heart, the peaceful breath they shared… An instant of eternity lost in time, a fraction of the universe holding its breath to admire perhaps the most ancient spectacle of existence: two beings sharing a moment. The stars were flickering slowly, offering to anyone who would open their eyes to it a complex ballet of cosmic lights, as if they were trying to mimic the subtle movements of a human soul.

Blake's cheek resting on her partner's shoulder, their hands interlaced and Yang's thumb evenly tracing circles on the back of her love's hand… None of them could have told how long they stayed like this, lost in thoughts and simply enjoying the bliss of being alive, safe and together. Would it matter anyway, if they stayed for a second or an entire night? Would it change anything to the beauty of the moment, to the peace they experienced by sharing this instant?

No, it wouldn't. Would it be for an instant or for all eternity, in the shyest or noisiest fashion, there was one thing that was and would always be stronger, and more ancient than hatred, despair and darkness. Love.

* * *

As you might guess, I'm a hopeless romantic, old-fashioned guy. I mean, I'm probably one of the last people of my generation to crave for poetry, flights of lyricism and well thought, deep meaning literature… sorry, being romantic also come with a full pack of 'loneliness-feeling'.

The further I wrote this fic, the further I thought about Grimms in general, and I might see coincidences everywhere, but I really think that RWBY's world is a metaphor. Look around you, you'll see that negativity attracts hatred and disgust… The only difference seems to be that in our world, love is going extinct. That's why everything I wrote, as dull and 'evil is bad, let's do good' as it probably is, I think we should apply it more on our everyday life. Be tolerant and friendly, you'll help make the world a better place

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fic despite the overall lack of any consistent action, and I'll see you tomorrow !


	10. 10 - Lemon Tree

Just some peaceful piano music today…

* * *

It's amazing, how you can associate precise feelings to great memories… To Blake, there was several sensations she associated to some of her fondest souvenirs: the sound of waves crashing on a shore was her childhood, a cold and nipping breeze was her initiation at Beacon Academy… and the smell of citrus was her first kiss.

As she was peacefully walking in a garden, she couldn't help but smile when she passed near a lemon tree. The smell menacing to brutally take her back in those memories, she decided not to fight it, instead sitting against the trunk to breathe more of this lemon-scented air.

Her memories invaded her slowly, bit by bit and color by color. A blonde yellow first, then the vibrant green of the leaves, the ochre of a setting sun… then all of the less present colors, slowly roughing out the shape of a park that once stood in the city of Vale. An almost deserted park, as surprising as it could be in the overly crowed megalopolis, carefully enveloping its two unique occupants with an enchanting atmosphere.

Said occupants were sitting under a tree, Blake patiently waiting for Yang to start speaking. She had asked her to come here to talk, after all… But she had to admit that this nervous silence emanating from her partner was rapidly getting to her nerves, as her hyperactive mind started to imagine all kinds of scenarios. She did her best to remain calm and not expect too much, as she knew that her feelings were more than probably one-sided.

"Blake, I asked you to come her because… because I need to talk to you…" Yang finally said, still visibly searching the right words

"Yes, you told me that." Blake softly said, wanting to encourage her blonde of a friend

"I… I don't really know how to say that…" Yang breathed deeply before pursuing. "It might change everything between us, and change how you see me… And I just… I'm scared that I won't find the right words. You see, right now I'm rambling because it allows me to avoid the subject… Also, somehow it helps me keep calm, I don't know how… Maybe it's psychologic…"

"Calm down Yang" she said with a smile. "Whatever it is that you want to say, say it."

"You're right… Blake? I.." she stopped, biting her lower lip, and then muttering to herself. "Why is it so goddam hard to say?" Raising her eyes, to stare at Blake, she looked more vulnerable than ever. "Blake, I… I fell in love with you."

Suddenly, in Blake's mind, everything stopped working. Even the time seemed to stop, as she struggled to assess the information. She was pretty sure that if she was sitting in front of a mirror, she would have seen a blue screen deep in her eyes. With that random and somehow logical thought, her brain slowly started functioning normally again, and she was finally able to process what had just happened, and how she would react.

She started by putting aside the shocking revelation that Yang had just made, to focus on her own feelings for the blondie. The one thing she knew was that she didn't want to hurt her, and that excluded the possibility of lying. She knew she had a slight crush on the boisterous blonde, but was it enough? During a few torturing seconds, she asked herself if she could love Yang with the same force and sincerity that she had seen in her eyes… and at first, she was met with just a hesitation… And suddenly, that hesitation was completely thrown off, by another feeling: confidence, and trust.

Coming back to reality, she realized that all of her reflection had taken less time than she had thought it would, and that Yang was still biting her lower lip and waiting in an obvious display of nervousness. She felt a slight smile brighten her otherwise blank expression, and as in a dream, she heard her own voice speaking.

"You know… I think I did too."

Was it even possible to shift mood that fast? Yang, after the second of realization it took anyone to assess such important information, went from nervous to relieved for less than a second, before a firework of pure joy exploded in her eyes.

"I… you…" Was all that the blondie could muster in between all those emotions

Then, before Blake could realize anything, Yang's lips gently meet hers, surprisingly delicate, happy but not eager. Once the surprise had passed, she returned the kiss, closing her eyes and slowly immersing herself in the scent of citrus, and gunpowder.

Finding the memory a little too vivid, Blake came back to present times with her eyes still closed, but the scent of gunpowder and the silk of her love's lips stayed. She opened, her eyes, only to find that the present Yang was also there, gently tugging a strand of Blake's hair behind her ears while they were still mere inches apart.

"So it's true that a kiss can wake up a sleeping beauty," Yang said softly, her breath grazing Blake's cheek

Smiling, Blake closed the gap between them, and they kissed once again under the lemon tree.

* * *

Soo... what did you think of this one ? I thought I'd have trouble writing on 'lemon tree' but I think i got out pretty well.


	11. 11 - Memory

Today was Kamelot's « My therapy ». Yeah, I really like their songs.

* * *

White. Everything was white around her, both of an aggressive and soothing white. She was half seated, half lying in what seemed to be a metallic bed. As she was looking around the small and almost bare room, a word formed near he conscience, the name of this room perhaps? But before she could grasp it, the door opened, and the word flew, unreachable.

Three persons entered. The first was a tall blonde man who seemed exhausted by a harsh life, soon followed by a young girl with a red cape and silvery eyes, and the last one to enter was another, tall and raven-haired woman which really seemed to lack sleep. When they saw her, they all erupted in joy, all three of them even crying before the youngest literally jumped to hug her.

Slightly uneasy, she cleared her throat before finally letting out the question that was bothering her since the three had entered the room.

"Who… who are you?"

Judging by their mixed expressions of pain and panic, she was supposed to know. But how the hell was she supposed to know those people? She couldn't remember meeting them ever before, heck she couldn't even remember the name of the room she was in!

"You don't recognize us?" the youngest said, almost pleading

"Well no. Can someone explain me who you are, where I am and…" Suddenly, an interrogation hit her harder than everything else. And she freaked out. "Who am I?!"

Panic started to grow on her, and the more she raked her brain for this information, the more she freaked out of not finding it. Your own name was supposed to be easy right? Then why did she remember the steps to diagnose a motocross and not her own name? What was she doing here? Where was she exactly? Each question seemed to pile up in her stomach and lungs, gradually blocking her breath and thickening her throat.

When she started thinking that her heart was going to explode, a tall man with grey hair and a white coat entered the room and went directly to her side. Somehow, it calmed her, as if she knew that this man had the answers she needed. When he took a deep breath, readying for a long explanation, a name came back to her: Doctor Ozpin.

"Yang, I need you to calm down." Was that her name? Yang? "I know everything might seem scary, but we are here to help you, okay?" he said with a soothing voice, the three intruders around seeming somewhere between awkward, anxious and sad.

"O-okay" she said, swallowing hard. If she focused deeply enough on the man's voice, she could silence her fears for a while.

"Yang, you are suffering from a major post-traumatic memory loss, but the good news is that it's psychological, meaning that you can, and you will recover your memories. Now, I need you to tell me exactly what you remember, can you do that?"

"Yeah, I… I think…" Breathing deeply, she tried to remember… anything. But nothing came, and her hands started shaking uncontrollably. "I… I remember almost nothing… I just remember some things like how to fix a brake on a motorcycle or... I think it's a cookie recipe?" She focused her field of view back to the doctor, hoping that he would have a solution to this torturous lack of information… but he was biting his lower lip in apprehension

"The memory loss is greater than I thought… It will take time for you to recover your souvenirs entirely." He sighed, glancing at his notebook and the resumed. "I can recommend you to a psychologist, he will help you recover your memory by surpassing your trauma."

She nodded, barely containing her tears. To her, it felt as if she had just been thrown in an arena, armed only with a shiv.

"Yang?" her eyes came back from the window to the doctor. "I need you to remain calm, okay? You won't like what I am going to say." She nodded again, unable to emit the slightest sound. "I mentioned a trauma several times before… this traumatism was provoked by a car accident. And I truly regret having to break out the news but… you lost more than your memories in this accident. We were unable to save your right arm."

For the first time that she had awakened, she downed her eyes on herself, only to find that her right arm was indeed abruptly stopping not far under her shoulder. She stared blankly at the stump that was there, feeling uneasy. She was unable to feel anything for this loss, that was probably capital. Actually, she could have been born with it, for what she remembered. She raised her eyes again, staring at the gray-haired man and waiting for the next disturbing information he would deliver.

"You seem to be taking this new rather well, which is good. Now, I'll try to make things a little less awkward by telling you who are the people in the room, okay?" A slight nod was her answer. "Great. First, I am the doctor Ozpin, I'm your family's attending physician. The man at my right is your father, Taiyang Xiao Long, and the young lady at his side is your sister, Ruby Rose. At my left is Blake Belladonna, one of your close friends. Do you think you will be alright if I go?"

"I think I will..." she said slowly, still feeling a bit awkward for not remembering the people that were supposed to be her family and friends.

Doctor Ozpin then left, leaving the room in an uncomfortable silence, only broken by the soft beeping of some machinery that she hadn't even noticed on the side of her bed.

For the next few minutes, she made small talk with Ruby and Taiyang, as they told her how relieved they were that she had awakened, and how determined they were to help her find her memories back. Even if they seemed like strangers to her, their solicitude was heartwarming, and she knew that she was in good hands. Blake, instead, kept quiet and simply watched her with a small smile.

Eventually, Ruby and Taiyang left the room to search for a snack, and she was left alone with Blake. Once again, she tried to make small talk, asking her about work, other friends, and even letting her pride go to ask Blake some question about her own life. But just as earlier the word 'hospital' had seemed tantalizingly out of reach, it seemed to her that there was something, some vital information that she couldn't grasp.

Focusing, her iron will end up getting her some brief flashes of memories. The first one was a blinding light and a loud noise, and if she relied on her shaking hands – no, hand. - and ragged breath, it was probably from her accident. The second was a very young Ruby blowing three candles on a cake. The last one however was less... precise. The more she tried to understand it, the more she thought that she was making up memories, until a point that she was dying to pop a question.

Seeing that her family wasn't back, she looked at Blake and suddenly asked it.

"We… We're not just friends, are we?"

It made on her interlocutor the approximate effect of an electric shock. Blake tensed in her seat, her knuckles visibly paling under the pressure she put on the arms of her chair.

"You remember something?" her voice was both hopeful and nervous

"I'm not sure what I actually remember...; but there's… something. Right?"

"Yeah…" Blake's voice croaked.

She then started speaking undertone, almost muttering without interruption.

And this long conversation marked the real, first step that Yang made on her way to recovery. On her way to find back her memories.

* * *

Phew, I wrote a lot more than I expected ! The good thing with this challenge is that it allows me to explore a lot of Bumbleby possibilities, and I'm currently piling up my ideas for future fanfic.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and see you tomorrow !


	12. 12 - Gold

Can you guess which song it was today? Well, it was Jeff William's Gold of course!

* * *

It was a peaceful summer day in Beacon's backyard, one of those day when there was nothing to do except chill out in the sun and make small talk.

"Hey Blake, what's your favorite color?" Yang asked all the sudden, causing her partner to emerge from behind her book

"Why is that?" she said, quite intrigued

"Well I realized that it was a little bit dumb to assume one's favorite color based on what they wear… I mean, sure Ruby absolutely loves red but Weiss wears white like a family emblem. So, what's your favorite color?"

Blake smiled when she saw the genuine, child-like attention that yang posed on her and her answer.

"Well I wear black mostly for discretion… I guess my favorite color would be lilac."

"Any particular reason for that choice?"

"Not really…" she paused a second to think, before adding. "I just find it to be a warm, cheerful and sweet color. And what's yours?"

"Heh… It might be a little common and fancy, but I really like gold." Yang said, slowly passing a hand through her mane of blonde hair. "Amber's great too! It's rich, deep and somewhat mysterious." She gave Blake an enigmatic look, before settling back on staring at the sky.

A few more seconds of awkward silence passed, before Blake finally decided that she wouldn't get her answer as to what was that look and got back to her book. Today was not smut, as she had thought better than to bring her copy of Ninjas of Love out in the crowded daylight of Beacon's summer holidays. It took her a few seconds to actually start to read and not pretend to while taking sneak peaks at Yang, but she finally managed to get past the page she was stuck at for about 5 minutes. And that's the exact moment Yang chose to talk to her again. After hearing her name, she placed a finger to mark her page and closed her book, curious as to what had gone through the blondie's mind this time. She was answered by a small laugh, and she would have been even more worried to see that Yang was wringing her hands.

"I knew my lines weren't the greatest, but I never thought that the day would come that I wouldn't find any…" she said, nervously rubbing the side of her neck

"What?" Blake said, pretty sure she had misheard. Though the subtle touch of her ribbon on her Faunus heritage ensured her that she didn't.

"Okay, now it's becoming really embarrassing…" the blonde muttered, before adding at a more audible volume, "What I'm trying to say for nearly an hour now, is that I think you're someone truly amazing, and that I wondered if perhaps you'd agree on seeing if we could be a thing?"

For once, Blake was completely caught out of guard by this simple, honest and very much Yang-like way of asking her out. Of course, she had suspected for a while that something was wrong as she had noticed Yang looking at her more and more frequently… But such blatant, out on the open declaration was completely unexpected. Hopefully, despite the little shock she was struggling with right now, she already knew what her answer would be. She had just been too shy to ask the same question herself… When she was finally able to move again, she just smiled to Yang.

"Why not?" she said, seeming as cool as a cucumber while inside her mind it was war.

"You can't imagine how relieved I am," Yang said sighing. "I was scared it would make things awkward between us. How does tomorrow, 4 p.m. sounds?"

"Perfect."

The smile that then lit up Yang's face, a genuine, irrepressible smile, was truly worth gold.

"Also, Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"What I said about amber…" Blake nodded that she remembered. "I was thinking about your eyes."

The Faunus blushed fiercely, wondering how such simple world could flatter her like the most sophisticated poetry.

* * *

Simple, yet cute Bumbleby. In my opinion at least. What did you think of this one?

See you tomorrow !


	13. 13 - Dawn

"Dawn of the Third Day" from NateWantsToBattle today. Yup.

* * *

Blake was part of the Guard of Dawn of Vale. They were called like that because dawn was the only moment everyone else in town saw them, exhausted and ghostly going back to their respective homes. You were rarely in the Guard of Dawn by choice: either it was a family thing, and you had to join to keep seeing your parents and siblings, either you had committed a crime and had to repay it by watching over the fortified town's nights.

As she was walking on the thick stone wall bordering the city, she couldn't help but smile as to why she had chosen this life. She was one of the rare, if not the only person to have voluntarily engaged when it wasn't a family thing. It was just her way to pay her rent and food, as well as the food and books she provided to the numerous poor and orphan kids running around the streets in search of a way to survive. It was a kind of promise she had made to herself growing up… Her parents used to own a bookstore, and even if it was enough to keep them safe, the Guard of Dawn's wage was much more consequent and stable.

The skyline started to brighten up as she shot one of her arrows on a creep that was dumb enough to think he could climb the walls. Smiling, she pulled on the rope that would allow her to claim back her arrow while everything around her started to take on the pink colors of an early day. It was probably the most she would see of today, as her duty was over now. She cleaned the tar blood on a piece of leather at her waist specially made for that, checked one last time that there was no more Grimm in her area, and then started walking toward one of the towers that would allow her to come down. About halfway through, she met the sentinel that was charged to replace her, and she saluted the stranger in shining armor, glad that she her armor wasn't as flashy and heavy.

A few minutes later she was walking in a still silent town, her black hood covering both her ears, eyes and fragile skin. With her entire life spent in darkness, she had become paler than a ghost and still had trouble seeing anything when the sun rose above her head. There was almost no one in the streets, except for this baker fueling his furnace and the distant sound of a blacksmith hitting his anvil. That particular sound pulled another smile on Blake's face, as she decided to make a slight detour toward the Phoenix Forge.

She found it already beaming with activity, it's owner focused on forging what seemed to be a guard's blade, her blonde hair pulled back in a hasty ponytail, forearms already blackened with coal. Yang's head rose from her work about a fraction of a second, acknowledging Blake's presence before returning to her subtle work. Despite her tiredness, Blake patiently waited for her friend to finish her metalwork, admiring the expert strikes that were rapidly forging it. Once the blade was duly made and put aside after tempering, Yang threw her gloves on a side table and invited her inside her workshop, invitation that she gladly accepted as she was able to pull back her hood in the shadows of the forge.

They chatted a bit about everything, mostly the day life that Blake couldn't know and how everything in town was going.

"That Sun boy you've hired is a true angel. All the kids around town love him, he's really good at keeping those little monsters in check." Yang said with a smile, slightly dusting her arms

"Yeah, I'm glad I could help him settle down. And now I can actually sleep" she said with a smirk, simply glad that whatever day it was, she knew she could speak to Yang

"He… You know there are rumors around Vale that you two are together?" Yang added, visibly eager to know if said rumors were true

"That's ridiculous." Blake laughed. "He helps me guard the kids and clean the house, and I lend him a room and food. All that's between us is a friendship, and I can't believe you actually thought it possible," she added with a playful smile toward Yang

Yang was part of the reason why she had chosen this life, to help orphans and homeless kids… She had met the blacksmith back when she was just a little girl struggling to survive in the street with her adoptive sister, and hopefully had been able to convince her parents to help them out. A few years later, Yang had started her apprenticeship with the nearby blacksmith while Ruby, her little sister, had started sewing. Now both owned a modest shop that allowed them to live, and often helped Blake by giving free outfits for the kids and proposing to train them when they were old enough.

"I'm sorry I have to leave so abruptly, but I'm really tired…" Blake excused herself

"Don't worry night owl, go to sleep. I'll keep an eye on the day for you."

With a slight smile, Blake hugged her goodbye before putting back her hood and returning to her home, feeling an inner wave of tenderness take over her heart for this strong but kind woman. What she couldn't know though, was that Yang was working early on the sole purpose to see her every day.

* * *

Done! Hope you liked it!

I really like writing medieval AU Bumbleby, I find it even more… fantasy. Also yeah, that's how you reunite two people as different as night and day. With dawn.

See you tomorrow pals !


	14. 14 - Smile

Today was Owl City's « Fireflies ». It's got a nice, dreamy feel to it.

* * *

Some people make their life goal to become the best, to success in one aspect or another. To Yang, the only valid lifegoal was to put a smile on the faces of those she loved. That's what she had always tried to do, making fun of herself and becoming the boisterous troublemaker she was now, in the sole purpose of seeing them laugh or just smile.

Of course, her fiery side had made her learn hand-to-hand combat which she was using mostly to defend herself or her family and she was always seeking adventures and danger, making her seem like a reckless… And she had to admit it was true when fate turned tables against her in that fateful night of Beacon's fall. She shrugged lightly, expelling those grim thoughts from her mind. She had made it out alive and had finally overcome her trauma, what could she want more than that?

She was even lucky enough to find herself back to her sister and friend's side, and even if Pyrrha wasn't with them anymore, she made her duty to keep going, and keep a smile on their faces. That; truly meant everything to her. Seeing that she could get Ruby to laugh, Weiss to smile and even Qrow to smirk, she felt like she had found back her purpose in life. Thinking back about all people comparing her to a flame, for the first time she seriously thought that it was quite accurate: she wanted to be comforting, to light everyone's path and to chase away darkness… And the recent happenings had taught her that she wasn't immortal and had to take care of herself too.

And as a flame, she was desperately attracted to shadows.

When that precise thought went through her mind, she peeked a glance at Blake reflexively. She always had that guilty, forlorn look on her face since she had come back, and yet was the only one Yang hadn't seen smile since the fall of Beacon. She represented perhaps, the greatest challenge Yang had yet to overcome. How could light comfort the shadows? How could she get closer without scaring her away in the process? She had attempted it several times by now, only to fail several times… But that wouldn't discourage her.

"Hey Blake, watcha' reading?" she said, temporary letting go of her detached robotic arm and yellow tinted brush to look at her partner, visibly completely in the story.

"The first book from the Shadowalker's Pact Trilogy… why?" she said, not even taking her eyes out of the book.

For once she looked neutral, and the guilt had been replaced by genuine passion for the pile of paper she was holding.

"No special reason. You just look so much into it."

"Yeah, it's on of my favorites," she said carefully turning one of the used pages. "I must have read it a thousand times… And it's still as good."

"Wow, you really like it! Mind if I borrow it when you're done?" Yang said, hoping that her unusual request wouldn't raise Blake's defense barriers, since she had so much trouble finding a moment when they weren't up.

"I'd see no problem with that but…"

"But?"

"It's written entirely in Italian"

"You're speaking Italian?!" Yang realized with a frown

"Not really… I can read it, but I have a really bad accent" the raven-haired said, with what seemed to be a smirk.

"In this case…" Yang ranked every corner of her mind to find a way to push her luck. If speaking about books could get Blake to smirk, then… "would you read it to me?" she said almost randomly.

She held her breath as Blake finally raised her eyes from behind her book to stare at her, seemingly dumbfounded by the question. Then the Faunus tilted her head slightly on the side and smiled.

"As you wish."

Completely abandoning everything on her workspace, Yang made her way to the chair next to Blake, who started the book all over again. Weiss would probably scold her for letting paint dry on the brush, and she'll have to restart doing the details on her robot arm all over again… But she couldn't care less. Right now, the only thing she could care about was that shy though radiant smile.

* * *

Yay, today marks two weeks of writing! Thanks to all those who read me up to this point !

Also, I got an email notifying me for a review on this story simply stating 'more pls' on the previous chapter, but it's nowhere to be found on the website… Anyway, in case the one who wrote it is still reading, I'll answer.

First, thanks a lot for being so fervent in reading and asking for more, I'm really glad that my work is appreciated. Second, maybe one day I'll write more on some of those AU and novels, I'm specially thinking about 'Memory' and 'Light' which gave me quite a bunch of ideas. The only trouble is that it'll have to wait until I finish this challenge, 'cause writing daily dries imagination quite fast, and I know I couldn't hold writing this and another story at the same time (that's why How could I know? Has temporarily stopped… again….).

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you tomorrow !


	15. 15 - Silence

Murray Gold's « A good man ». Why? Spoilers!

* * *

"Any idea what this 'anomaly' can be?" Yang suddenly said, tearing the silence of their walk through Forever Fall.

"If even Oobleck doesn't have the slightest idea of what it is, how do you expect me to know?" Blake answered with a tired smile

Yeah, she was tired, mostly because they had been walking toward this anomaly all day, and that there was not trace of it anywhere… If they had come here for nothing, Oobleck would have to endure her lecturing about checking his systems.

Her train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted when many Beowolves howled in unison. Instinctively, her hand went to rest on Gambol Shroud's handle, and she was reassured to hear the distinct 'click' of Amber Celica developing in attack mode.

"Look like we've got company…" Yang muttered, all senses in high alert.

But strangely, no Beowulf appeared. Instead, a strange voice raised over the relative silence of the forest.

"What are you? What do you want? And perhaps more important, why do you look so strange?"

Blake and Yang exchanged a look, and then started running toward the voice that was visibly struggling with a huge pack of Beowolves. There was a great chance that it was the anomaly that they had been searching for, plus they couldn't just let whoever this was defenseless against Grimms. They arrived at it sooner than they'd expected, arising in a clearing crowded with a dozen monsters and a big blue box just sitting there. Not giving themselves or the Grimms any second to think, they both started moving again, slaughtering the creatures in a perfectly synchronized fashion thanks to their training.

A dozen wolf was no match to their combined attacks, and they rapidly found themselves back in front of the box, staring at each other questioningly.

"Umh… Mister?" Yang hazarded hesitantly. "You are safe now, the Beowolves are dead."

The door of the box opened slightly, before a seemingly old man propped his head through the opening, staring frantically right and left and ended up staring at Blake.

"You there, black hair and bobbly head, which planet is this? And which time?"

"We're on Remnant, Monday, and a little bit after noon." Blake answered slowly, starting to seriously doubt the sanity of the man

"Remnant? How come I never heard of Remnant?"

"Sir, you might want to sit down. You look shaken… You sure the Beowolves didn't hit you on the head?" Yang added, still reluctant on storing her weapon.

"No, they didn't! No one can enter the Tardis! But seriously, what's wrong with you? You all look like weird three-dimensional versions of manga!"

"Sorry, what?" Blake interrupted.

"No offence, it looks good on you. By the way, I've been really rude not presenting myself. I am the Doctor."

"Okay, that Beowulf definitely hit him on his head." Yang said, deciding that this man was just a weirdo.

"I told you it didn't! Oh, and thanks for saving me, but did you have to kills those poor animals? And where are the bodies anyway?"

"They vanished, like they always do. And what were you planning to do anyway, try to reason them? Well, scoop of the year, those beasts have no soul, no Aura and are chasing mankind since the very beginning of Remnant just for the fun of it. So yeah, we had to kill them." Yang said, fiercely putting a hand on her waist.

Blake's ears suddenly twitched, and her eyes fell upon another beast… inside the blue box. For a second she wondered how there could be so many things inside such a small box, but then her Huntress training came back to her.

"Sir get out of the way! Yang, there's another one inside of the box! It's weird, it looks like…" she turned to see if her orders were followed, only to resume the conversation normally. "Who are you exactly, and what brought you on Remnant?"

"Oh no… no no no no! It can't have followed me!" The Doctor said, starting to rummage his pockets

"Sir? You know something about the creature she was talking about?" Yang said, hesitantly looking between a dumbfounded Blake and a gradually panicking Doctor.

"Yes, I do know some things about them, they are Silence! You forget about them the moment you look away, that's why your friend here look like a fish out of its tank!" he then got out a pair of sunglasses. "Finally."

"That's ironic for a cat, right Blakey?" Yang could help but point out

"Could you stop making fun of me and explain to me what's happening?" Blake hissed, visibly not liking to be left behind

"You saw something weird in that blue box, and according to this weirdo, forgot about it the moment you looked away. I wouldn't have trusted him if I didn't see it happen. Now sir," she said turning to the doctor. "Tell me, are those creatures vulnerable to gunshots?"

"Yes, yes they are, why?"

Without adding anything, Yang cocked back Amber Celica and entered the box. Now staring at the creature, she saw that it looked nothing like her usual Grimms prey. Worse, it tried to speak to her with a raspy, disturbing voice. She kept her eyes focused on him, waiting for it to attack first, before realizing it wouldn't. It was defenseless, else it wouldn't erase itself from memory. A devious grin appeared on her lips, and in one quick bounce, she was close enough to punch the hell out of it.

The thing that surprised her the most though, was that it wasn't disappearing. Suspiciously, she shot another round at its corpse, before saying without letting her eyes trail off of it:

"Uh, sir… Doctor? It's not disappearing… Is it still alive by your standards?"

"No, it's dead. What you don't know what a dead body look like? Never seen a corpse?"

"Actually, they do not exist, Doctor… Either you're alive, or you don't exist. Existing while being dead is… unnatural." Blake said, cautiously stepping in the Tardis behind the Doctor

"How do you eat meat or fish then?" the doctor asked, almost turning to her but seemingly remembering at the last second that he had to keep an eye on the Silence.

"I never wondered." Yang shrugged. "But seriously, who are you and what are you here for?" she added, quite eager to hear his story.

"I'm the Doctor, I travel through time in my Tardis and I try to help wherever I go. Wait a minute… You're not surprised?"

"Surprised by what?" Blake genuinely said

"It's bigger on the inside!" the Doctor exclaimed, arms wide open to emphasize his point.

"Probably works like Coco's handbag." Yang shrugged. "Even Ruby's scythe uses a bit of it."

"This world is really, really surprising. Wait, I'm missing something." He started walking in circles. "Why was there a Silence in my Tardis? No, more important, why have I come here, a planet I never heard about? Wrong question. Why did the Silence want to get here? You there, reckless blondie, has there been any changes in the recent political situation?"

"Ehh… Well Beacon fell, and Vale followed, but that was a long time ago… We defended Mistral successfully, and since then there's some sort of status quo with Salem I guess… Since she hasn't tried to exterminate mankind."

"Exterminate?" The Doctor stopped in his tracks to look at Yang. "What does that Salem look like?"

"No idea, never seen her. Tough Ozpin says she's a kind of hybrid between human and grimm… And Qrow says she looks like a spider."

"No metallic outfit, no tank-like armor?"

"No, why?"

"Oh god I thought I had another Dalek invasion to handle. Now since there isn't, thanks for saving me but I really gotta go. Maybe I'll get around here some time. You two best get back to your normal lives." He started pushing them out of the Tardis, both huntresses too shocked to react, until the box had vanished into thin air.

"Can we say we dreamed this all?" Yang said, slowly turned to Blake. "I don't want to ask myself more questions."

"Yeah. We'll tell Oobleck that there's a failure in his systems. How about we head back home?" Blake answered, willing to forget all of this as fast as possible.

"With pleasure, milady." Yang bowed

"Flatterer."

But nonetheless, they headed back home together on the same way they had taken to come as it was emptied of its Grimm. Yang's hand delicately placed in Blake's, as always when they came home.

* * *

Okay, this one was a long one… And truly, I do not like it as much as I liked the idea at first. Anyway, got another review from a guest that I'll answer here! Yay, I love reviews!

I didn't know that there was another 'Memory' story for Bumblebee, so thanks for warning me. Luckily, I was more seriously thinking about writing Light and Dark, since I have a beginning of a plot, so… Yeah, great chances that I write this one. And you're right, competing with another story would do no good to either author, even if I think it's ridiculous to even speak about competition. I mean, I'm writing 'cause I love writing and I love those bees, and personally I wouldn't mind if someone took one of my ideas and developed it, because it would only mean more bee… But I understand that some people might think of plagiarism.

Also, thanks for the kind comment at the start, it really makes my day 3. And you're not "just a random guy from Texas"! There nothing such as random people, everyone is unique and interesting. Do not underestimate the value of your life and acts… see, with a single review, you greatly helped me in avoiding an error!

I'm losing myself, am I? Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one even if it was long and in my own opinion, only 'meh.' And I'll see you tomorrow!


	16. 16 - Colors

Owl City's « Bombshell Blonde » today! I wanted something punchier to write for once.

* * *

Yang was nervous, as she always was when she had to meet someone for a possible contract. Add to it that she was a bit short lately and that she was meeting a renowned author, and you had a perfect cocktail of stress, ready to explode at any second. And as she always did when she was nervous, she had put on her headphones, volume max, and had started painting again. Adding a little bit of red here and there, she thought about her sister who never understood how doing her work could relax her, nor how she could paint without pre-sketching.

Suddenly, a loud beeping noise sounded, and she jumped – almost leaving an unwanted trail of blood red on her canvas – before putting down everything and running to the door. The author she was meeting was quite secretive, writing under the pen name of Kendall Alban Ebo and pretty much never showing his face anywhere, and so she had no idea who she was going to meet. Meeting him was enough of a luck to her, having the chance to speak with him about a visual adaptation of his work was beyond imagination. And yet, here she was answering the interphone.

"Am I ringing at Yang Xiao Long's artist studio?" a metallic voice asked, the interphone preventing her from identifying it furthermore

"Yes, I presume that you are Kendall?"

"You presume right"

"I'll open the door, I'm on the fourth floor, number fourteen."

She pushed the button that would temporarily open the residence's door, before realizing that instead of just staring at the door like she was, she should clean up her mess a little. And that's how she realized how much of a mess was her 'artist studio' and secondarily place of living, abruptly starting to order up about everything she could get her hands on. The only thing she left untouched was her current project, with the brushes dipped in weird colored water and a slight touch of paint on her palette. When she finally thought that her place was at least somewhat presentable, she heard a knock on the door and hurried herself to open it.

And she was surprised with the sight of a fair skinned tall woman with amber eyes and black hair. Somehow, Yang had supposed the 'Kendall' was an old man. How stupid of her.

"Come in, make yourself home!" she said happily, not letting her surprise overpower her. "Can I get you something?"

"Tea could be perfect, thanks" the author said with a calm, almost shy voice while her eyes trailed on everything in the room.

Yang went to grab some tea, suddenly glad that her sister's friend had left a box of it around yesterday, apparently because it was 'good for your nerves'… To Yang, the only valid drink when you had trouble with your nerves was coffee, but still it proved itself to be handy. She put some water in the boiler, waiting what seemed to her an infinite time, before finally bringing back the tea in mug… since she hadn't found any cup. Since she didn't own any cup.

She found Kendall staring at the many paintings she had done and that hadn't been sold, visibly thinking.

"Here's your tea! Sorry for the presentation, I'm not really used to drink in cups"

"Don't worry about it, it's perfectly fine to me" the author drank a bit, before turning to her. "Your work is indeed vivid and pretty impressive, I do not regret meeting you in person."

"Heh, thanks. I prefer showing my work in real life, since a photograph always seem to lose a bit of the emotions" the blondie said, nervously rubbing the back of her neck. "So… about the contract we're discussing, we could make an essay right now, see if I'm living up to your expectations?"

"That would be perfect. How do we start?" She asked, seeming genuinely surprised by the proposal

Yang put her current canvas on the side, only to place a new, blank one on the easel.

They spent the next hour discussing colors and forms, having settled on trying a painting of the main character. And Yang ended up having perhaps the most fun of her life painting. Kendall was inputting some ideas here and there, without truly interfering with her very own style, and she found it refreshing to have another point of view during the actual art-making. And then, as the first try was very conclusive, she ended up switching support and passing on paper to execute a detailed story board page.

About two long hours of discussion, trial and mostly art, they eventually had to part ways as Kendall had to attend a staff reunion in less than 30 minutes. Accompanying her all the way to the entrance of the building, Yang felt a real interest in her very graphic, almost photographic vison of the worlds she was writing. It was almost as if she discovered that beyond the books, a full coherent universe developed, and she knew she would love to work on it.

"Thanks for pandering to my demands, and for receiving me. You truly have a vision, and I'll have to negotiate with the whole right department, but I'll do what I can to engage you as official illustrator." The raven-haired woman said with a smile, before adding. "Honestly, I'm not even supposed to be there, since there's a bunch of lawyer wanting nothing but to have control on everything concerning my author's rights… But I'm glad I came."

"Well, I'm glad you came too! With a little luck I'll work with you again, Kendall. I look forward to it"

"Blake."

"Sorry?"

"That whole Kendall Alban thing is just a pen name, a mere anagram. My real name is Blake Belladonna" the raven-haired said with a light smile

"Then I'll look forward to work with you, Blake."

* * *

Done! Yeah, you say me color and I think painter. No idea why my brain is that far-fetched.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to writing some more… See you tomorrow !


	17. 17 - Upside Down

Today was "Sacred and Wild", originally written by Powerwolf but I was listening to the cover by Epica.

* * *

"Yang, you're a showoff." Ruby's voice rose, as she glanced at her sister

Which was indeed showing off, having decided that their forced trip to the middle of the Emerald forest wouldn't prevent her from working out every evening. And so, she was working out, doing sit-ups the best way she could in the middle of a forest: hanging upside-down on a tree branch.

Blake rose her head from the fire she was trying to set up, only to nod in disapproval.

"Yang get down from here. You'll only achieve to get yourself a headache."

"Nope! I could stay upside down for hours on end!" The blondie fiercely replied, even managing to stick her tongue at Blake in between two sit-ups.

"Dad says she can do that because there's nothing in her skull, so the blood won't disturb her" Ruby added with a pout

"Hey! Sis', we said no embarrassing dad quotes in public!" Yang said, clumsily throwing a small punch at her sister's shoulder

Standing up to stretch her legs a bit, Blake got closer to the cheerful blonde, feeling a mischievous smile grow on her lips as an idea formed in her mind.

"You said that you could stay head down for how long?" she begun, knowing that Yang's pride would make her fall directly into her trap.

"Hours if needed!" she proudly said, indeed missing both the mischievous smile and the alarming tone Blake's voice had taken

"Care to prove it to me?" Blake added, knowing that she had already won.

"As you wish!"

True to her words, Yang let herself stay down with a determined smile toward Blake.

"I'm pretty sure you won't hold that long." Blake teased

"We'll see about that."

At this point, Ruby was staring at them alternately, trying to understand what exactly was going on. Letting Yang think she had a chance to win, Blake waited a few seconds before acting out her plan, ravished that none of them had the slightest idea of what she was going to do. Making a quick step forward, she placed her lips on Yang's in one, fluid movement. As fast as she had kissed her, she made a step back, just in time to see Yang's widened eyes and shocked expression, just in time to see her blush fiercely. Then the blondie slowly brought a hand to her lips, completely stunned… and fell from the branch with a loud thud.

As if falling had given her back her senses, she exclaimed suddenly:

"That's cheating!"

"We never set up rules Yang. You lose, deal with it." Blake said calmly, while ruby burst out laughing herself sick.

Later that night, around the small campfire, Blake had the pleasure to explain what had happened to Weiss, since Yang was too mortified to even speak and Ruby still not over her laughter. Once the story had been told once again, Ruby renewed her laughter:

"I can't believe she got you like that sis'!" She kept laughing for a little while, before suddenly stopping. "Wait, I hadn't realized… BLAKE YOU KISSED YANG?"

This time, it was everyone else's turn to laugh.

* * *

Yeah, done! A bit last minute, but still in time! Also, I seem to take a little more freedom concerning the themes lately, I have no idea if it'll last though. Now on to answering reviews!

SomeRandoFromTX: Well I'll definitely check it out! And I guess that's the good point of having only a few reviews: I can take time to answer them one by one/ Also yeah, I'll do my best with the next chapters, and with a little luck I'll get it done. I guess even I will discover what I'm made of x)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you tomorrow !


	18. 18 - Rain

Kamelot's "My Therapy". Don't know if I already used it or not, a bit too tired and time short to really care. Sorry :/

* * *

Of all possible weathers on that precise day, it had to be raining. Ghosting the walls of the city's streets in a vain hope that it would protect her from the thundering storm of water descending from the sky, Blake was walking as fast as she could toward the little square in which she was supposed to meet Yang. She had given up on wearing her bow, preferring colds looks over a soggy tissue driping water in her sensible ears, but she was now truly regretting that she didn't own an umbrella. It could have spared her so much troubles, so much slight detours to pass by some covered walkways… Finally arriving near the fountain that was placed dead-center in the square, she found nothing to do but to stare at the meaningless circles of waves in the pond, shaking and waiting for her lover to come. They had planned a romantic walk through the city, but deep inside her heart, Blake hoped that they could and would bypass their planning to head to a more comfortable and drier place. A brutal roar of thunder ripped the sky and calm alike, and she instinctively closed her eyes to shiver a little more. If there was one thing she hated more than rain, it was thunderstorm.

As sudden as the thunder had rumbled, the rain stopped hitting on her skin and hair, the global temperature peaked up around her and a warm, loving arm came circling her shoulders, morphing her passably irritated and pessimistic mood in one of simple joy.

"Hey kitty cat…" Yang's voice murmured just behind her. "Afraid of the thunder?"

Finally opening her eyes, Blake turned to face her blonde of a girlfriend and hugged her without saying a word, her felines instinct currently boosted into complete control by the previous noise. Right now, the only thing she wanted was to hug that warmth emanating from Yang, and snuggle with them in a dry, quiet place where she wouldn't hear the wrath of the sky anymore.

"How about we head to my place?" Yang suggested, still muttering – and miraculously still audible under the raging sound of the rain hitting the ground.

Nodding slightly, Blake finally managed to let go of her, at least partially. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't resolve herself to completely let the blondie out of her grasp… As they made their way toward Yang's apartment, Blake realized in-between two panicked crisis that she would have to apologize for the numerous bruises she was most certainly causing Yang. Even if she knew she was probably hurting her, she couldn't prevent herself from squeezing her girlfriend's arm to death each time a lightning bolt decided to tear out the tormented horizon.

Hopefully, everything got better the moment they both entered the apartment, as Yang closed every curtain and shutter of the habitation, slowly but surely muffling out the sound of the weather. They then ended up just snuggling in front of a random action film that none of them was truly paying attention to, and something happened that Blake had never thought as being a possibility.

In the middle of a harsh thunderstorm, she started to purr slowly.

* * *

I'll see you tomorrow guys… cause now I'm half asleep, and even less conscious…


	19. 19 - Silver

Just let YouTube go random… discovered the Sidh, quite amazing group.

* * *

Today was her day. She had left everything she knew on the doorstep of her home: family and friends, home and school, everything. With a slight chance that she would never see any of it ever again. Somewhere, deep inside, she knew she should have been more worried than she currently was, but she couldn't get past the joy and pride she was feeling. Today, on her tenth birthday, she would be given her place in the society! Bypassing thousands of people slowly getting to work, she could help but wonder who she would be. Would she be a Steel guardian, like her father? Or an Iron-willed jeweler like her mother? Perhaps something completely different… Without even acknowledging it, she sped up her walk toward the giant amphitheater that would hold the ceremony, which she found crowded by numerous people all muttering about the event at hand.

Of course, how could she forget? She was perhaps one of the lucky people to actually be born on the ceremony's day, but she wasn't alone at this event. And this year marked the Schnee heiress' tenth birthday as well, meaning that an awful lot of nobility would attend it, just to see her rank. After all, she was the daughter of a Platinum governor, and the sister of a Sapphire admiral… As she caught sight of the white-haired girl, Blake thought that there was a lot of pressure on her shoulders, and that she wouldn't take her place for all the privileges in the world. Ever.

Miraculously making her way through the crowd, she finally entered the prep room, after having presented her ID card. Rapidly pushed toward an individual cabin, she new she had to change in the ceremony ballgown. She didn't really like the frilly look of it, but she knew that it would change at the exact moment she would place her hand on the Deciding Plate. As soon as she had changed, she suddenly realized that her former clothes were nowhere to be seen… Shrugging, she resigned herself to get out and face the new world.

"Hello!" she had barely made a step out that a tall blonde girl hailed her

"Umh... hello?" she said, unsure that she was authorized to talk on such fateful day.

"I'm Yang! I thought you seemed all serious, so I wanted to see if I could cheer you up a little!" the girl said, extending her hand

"Blake…" she answered, shyly shaking her hand

"Don't worry, I won't eat you! Any idea on which rank you'll have?" she pursued, visibly not discouraged by Blake's shy answer

"I don't know… My parents are Steel and Iron, so I guess I won't be too far from it." Slowly warming up to the cheerful kid, Blake started smiling

"My father's a Coal miner, and my mother was a Fool Gold, so I'm as lost as you are! Well actually, she was a Silver before she married my father…"

The raven-haired nodded understandingly. She knew that "Fool Gold" was the rank given to precious metal that had married an inferior rank and lost all privileges in the process. Being the daughter of such union was rough, since almost everyone saw you as a failure, a crack in the society… Having been raised by loving and understanding parents, she had luckily avoided all those prejudices and was more open-minded than most of the child in this city.

"I guess we'll know soon!" she said, wanting Yang to know that she wasn't a judgmental jerk

She just had the time to see her smile, before she realized that she was almost on stage. And that before her, solemnly placing a hand on the Deciding Plate, was Weiss Schnee. A few seconds passed as the plate analyzed her and her past, before the light in the room changed to blue and her dress suddenly morphed in a delicate, pristine white. At this exact instant, the crowd exploded in cheers and applause, as the Diamond ruler insignia was shown on all the screens. Blake's eye widened, as such rank hadn't been attributed in ages, even before her parents were born… Surely this Weiss' was heading toward a glorious, and exigent life. She couldn't tell if she was happy or desolated by the new… But she didn't really have time to think it through. The future ruler went on her rank space, more alone that anyone would seem, while Yang stepped on stage.

Of course, with such parenthood, her arrival on stage wasn't unnoticed. Seeing as how the crowd went silent altogether, Blake thought that perhaps their passing order wasn't randomized, that the organizers behind the ceremony had deliberately placed her after Weiss to emphasize the heiress success…

Every light turned a bright orange, and Yang's dress morphed into a shining, beautiful gold that was looking pale when compared to the girl's beaming smile. She had just restored honor on her family, proving that even if her mother was a Fool Gold, she could be someone great. Blake surprised herself by applauding loudly, trying to compensate by herself the meaningful silence of the public. She got herself a few angry glares, but she didn't care. It was her turn.

She stepped to the Deciding plate while Yang was quietly claiming her place in the precious metals area, extending her hand and pausing for a slight second, hand hovering the metal piece that would decide of her future. Sighing, she decided to trust a system as old as civilization, and finally posed her hand on the surprisingly warm surface. She closed her eyes almost automatically, before being forced to open them as the light became grey and a few people in the crowd cheered. Turning around, she saw that it was her parents and some of the people she knew, and she was about to salute them before she noticed that something wasn't right.

There were tears in her mother's eye, and as she saw the screen, she understood why. She wasn't Iron, or Steel like she had thought. She wasn't Rock either. She was Silver. Which meant that this was the last she would probably see of her parents. Feeling a lonely tear roll on her cheek, she hurried herself on the spot next to Yang.

"Thanks for the cheering Blake" Yang muttered slowly, as to not disturb the rest of the ceremony.

"Any day" Blake answered, slightly relieved

Even if she had lost her parents, she had found a friend.

* * *

Done! I have no idea why, but when I read "Silver" for today's theme, my brain went on with fusing Divergent and Steven Universe. Seriously, I have NO FREAKING IDEA. But I think it's cool!

Also, sorry for yesterday's rough AN, I was really tired, and I realized I hadn't written anything around 23:45 so yeah… didn't really put maximum effort into it.

Anyway, hope you liked it, and I'll see you tomorrow pals!


	20. 20 - Half

Amnesiac from Kamelot today.

* * *

« Hey Blake? » Yang started, nervously fidgeting with the black ribbon on the little bow she was holding.

Turning to her, Blake tilted her head to the side questioningly. Resisting the urge to bite her lips, Yang simply handing her the little cardboard box. She had hesitated long enough and now she couldn't backpedal. But still that was a bit risky. Especially since Blake had come back only a few weeks ago.

The sound of the box opening got her out of her worried thoughts as her brain paused, just waiting for Blake's reaction.

"Yang?" she said, slowly retrieving the collar from its package. "It's lovely, you didn't have to"

Rubbing the back of her neck, she tried to mutter something like "it's nothing" while just drowning in her own words. She was still surprised at how embarrassed and shy she could be when it came to Blake… Even for something as simple as a dual collar. Yeah, dual, since her puny side couldn't help but chose a Yin-Yang symbol, one of those slightly kitsch dual pendants with tiny magnets.

Blake, as calm as ever, smiled before tying her part of the collar on her neck in swift movement, then placing the yin on Yang's neck. Smiling, the blonde was about to say something stupid, but she was interrupted by Blake's lips softly placed on hers.

"You're cute when you blush"

She got back to reality, only to notice that in the process their pendant had taken their fused form, the magnets automatically attracting the other half.

Running in the dark, gritting her teeth to contain the sudden outburst of pain in her right side, Yang tried to focus on the situation at hand rather than her peaceful, but irrelevant memories. She had a mission to do.

Her fist connected with a jaw, breaking through the bone mask and the aura alike. She had no more aura to protect her, but by now she was hitting about fifth times as hard. If you didn't count the anger she was putting in each and every hit. She made her way fast in a dark subway crowded by White Fangs member, leaving behind her a trail of blood and broken bones for Weiss and Ruby to pick up. Right now, there was one and one thing only in her mind: the small flickering point on her Scroll's screen, indicating Blake's location.

She felt stupid, for thinking that Blake had ran again. For assuming the worst already. She felt stupid because she had needed a ransom demand to realize that Blake needed help. And she drowned her frustration and stupidity in the hurt noises made by poor people that tried to stop her.

She finally made her way to a larger room, not even thinking about the weird architecture of the place, nor the arrogant smile on the giant's face standing in one corner of the room. Blake was here, tied to a chair, blood dripping from a corner of her mouth, looking fiercer than ever. Yang made a few steps toward her, feeling a storm of emotions take over her heart… And then the giant had the stupidity to interpose.

He was about to expose his machiavellian plan or do some evil genius speech of some sort judging by his satisfied smile. But his plans were interrupted when he received a low-kick in the balls and a right hook in the jaw, sending him flying against the wall before he could do anything. He should have known better than to block an angry Yang's path.

"Blake? Blake I'm here! Are you okay?" She finally said, surprised that she still had a voice, after hours passed in an angry mutism.

"Yang? How… how did you find me?"

Pointing at the yang pendant still on her collar, yang showed the localization on her scroll screen.

"I know it's not really legal, or polite… but I had a tracking device installed in the pendant. I would never follow you if you decided to run… but I just was paranoid and wanted to be sure that you would be safe even if you did. I hope you're not mad…" she said, rapidly untying her

She was expecting a deceived scold, an angry yell, anything for doing such privacy invasion. Instead, Blake rushed to her arms as soon as she was free, and their pendant softly clicked together.

Each half never apart from the other for long.

* * *

Done! Bit late, couldn't focus on writing… Got myself a new Zelda! So yeah, haven't been the most focused of writers today…. Sorry

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and see you tomorrow!


	21. 21 - Cave

No song today…

* * *

How had she actually ended up in that situation? How the hell could anyone end up chained up in an almost absolute dark, trying not to slip on a vertical rock face?

Well actually she knew. She had agreed on accompanying Yang in one of her favorite activities… Canyoning. What she hadn't realized was that it was wild canyoning. Not secured at all. Of course, Yang was a certified canyoning guide, and there was no risk. But still, climbing humid rocks only lighted by a small headtorch… It was a little bit scary. Just a little bit. Especially when her nyctalopia was of little to no use in the absolute dark of the caves.

She ripped on the smooth surface, letting out a small gasp while she felt the void under her pull her downwards. At the exact second she thought she would fall and die, a warm and reassuring hand maintained her on the wall, and her headlamp lighted briefly Yang's concerned look.

"You okay? We're almost here."

"Yeah don't worry, I just slipped" Blake said, much more confidently than she was actually feeling.

Her heart rate was probably fifth time higher than normal, but Yang pretended that nothing had happened, instead resuming her vertical progression. They were aiming at a 'special place' that Yang had mentioned to Blake as a stunningly beautiful place. And for yang to specifically say 'stunningly beautiful' and to insist on bringing Blake to that place, it had to be truly special.

Finally getting to the top of that slippery rock wall, they then had to crawl for about a dozen meters before finally accessing a larger space. And as Yang turned off both their light, Blakes asked herself for the millionth time how exactly she had found that place.

And then she stopped thinking, as bioluminescent insects started flickering slowly, their green lights reverberating endlessly on the polished surfaces of the many salt crystals of the room. As the light reached further and further, it lighted the impressive dimensions of the cave revealing what was actually a stone cathedral, a crystal pantheon.

Unable to say something, anything, Blake tried desperately to get her brain to function again, in vain.

"It's…"

"I know" Yang muttered, visibly not wanting to disturb the irreal silence of the room

"Thank you, for bringing me here." Blake added on the same tone.

They spent the next minutes watching the fireflies' show, admiring without saying a word the ballet of lights on the pristine surfaces of the salt daggers sitting on the ceiling and walls. They shared a few thoughts, a few kiss, pushing back as far as possible the moment when they would have to go back to the light world.

* * *

Done! Late, again. Review answering? Review answering!

Well I'm glad this AU was appreciated, and I might write more of it, since I have the entire society functioning already decided (yeah, I can't write an AU if I don't know exactly how the universe around it works, even if it'll never appear in the fic…).

And about Steven Universe, it's a great show! The first five episode are like… random and stupid cartoon, but past that the plot is really worth it. For the fic I just reused the fact that in Homeworld, the Gems have a super strict society with rank depending on their preciosity (the diamonds are the ruler, while pearls are some kind of secretary for example). But seriously, it's really worth it, go watch it whenever you have time. Oh, and if you have even more time, go check out Gravity Falls too if you didn't already!

Anyway, hope you liked it and see you tomorrow!


	22. 22 - Mother Nature

Today was « Numb » from Linkin Park. And I'm surprised I didn't listen to Linkin Park sooner in the whole fanfic writing process x)

* * *

She had made her decision, about three days ago, when the doctor had said that he couldn't do anything. That her sister was condemned. She just couldn't accept the mere idea of watching Ruby die slowly without trying everything, even the riskiest rumors. So she had secured her sister in her back with a harness, and she had started walking toward the forest. Going deeper and deeper inside the green inferno, holding on a weak rumor that somewhere in there lived a sorceress, a witch that could cure anything.

She also knew that the price would be high, and probably not in liens, but she had nothing more to lose. Her only family was at stake, and she would have given her very life to make sure that Ruby could live. She tried to avoid the predators as much as she could, but she had a short sword at her waist if she happened to encounter one of them. She wasn't really good with it, but last time she had used it, she had managed to get out alive by knocking with all her might on the creature that had attacked her, her lack of technique compensated by her will to survive and her street urchin's strength.

After five days, she had almost lost her faith. She was exhausted, Ruby was weakening day by day, and she was seriously thinking that they might end up dying in the middle of a stupid forest, chasing after a stupid lie. Out of frustration, she punched the nearest tree, provoking the fall of some sort of fruit and a sharp pain in her knuckles, that she had cut on the rough bark. Feeling a tear of despair roll on her cheek, she was about to curse when a second flash of pain crisped her neck. Raising her hand to it, she thought that it was probably a mosquito, until she felt a little puff of fur and a sharp dart. Before she could even realize the meaning of it, the world turned black and she felt herself fall in a drugged slumber.

She woke up, all senses in high alert, abruptly getting back to a sitting position. She took the time needed by her eyes to actually focus on things to try and remember where she was and what she was doing here, wherever 'here' was… And panic raced her heart once more. Where was Ruby? She looked around her, taking in the surroundings: she was in what seemed to be a house, on a bed. There was little to no decorations in the room, and the only other living creature was a tabby cat, staring at her from its perch atop a cupboard. As if it was waiting for her to wake, it meowed and disappeared through a cat flap. A few seconds later, a woman entered the room, petting the purring cat and approaching Yang.

As she wasn't saying a word, Yang tried out with her croaky voice:

"Where am I?"

"At destination" the woman answered, and that's the exact moment Yang noticed her feline ears and tail, and the light traces of black fur running on her bare stomach and shoulders. "Welcome to the sorceress' den." She added, emphasized by the meowing of the cat in her arms.

"Where's…" her sentence was interrupted by the cat sorceress

"She's fine, don't worry, she's resting in the room on the other side of the corridor."

"What do I…" again, she was interrupted before she could end her sentence, as if the woman in front of her was reading her mind – which, thinking about it, wasn't completely impossible.

"You owe me nothing. You were desperate, and I couldn't just let you both die and live with that. But if you truly want to repay me, I always need some arms to help restore the house." She said with a smile.

"What's your name?" Yang asked, not thrown back at all from the interruptions.

And this one time, the sorceress seemed surprised, as if she had never expected that kind of question.

"Blake, my name is Blake" another smile lighted her face, this time much sincerer.

Getting up and popping her spine back in place by stretching, Yang thought about what she had left behind her. Shrugging, she realized that nothing waited for her where she was born, and that she could take as much time as needed out of mankind's sight.

But she couldn't know that even once Ruby would be awake and cured, she'd never want to leave.

* * *

Done! It's a bit far-fetched, regarding the theme…. But I like it anyway. When I saw "Mother Nature" I wanted to write something looking like Avatar, and my beta-reader suggested the whole 'searching for a cure' thing, so I just mixed it up to my taste. And I've written it in time!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you tomorrow!


	23. 23 - Hunted

Today – more like tonight… started writing 5 minutes late… sorry… - was a YouTube mix of Panic! At The Disco songs.

* * *

Her heart was beating fast, too fast in her taste. Even if it was almost impossible, deep inside she was sure her pursuer could her ragged breath and unsteady heartbeat. Crawling in a deep dark shadow, she desperately tried to get from cover to cover, to keep herself as invisible as physically possible. She checked her gun, only to see that it was clicking empty. Great, now she had to find some ammunitions, meaning that she had to run out of her safe corner, and get to perhaps the most visible place of the surroundings. Clenching her teeth, she kept moving, knowing that her opponent was tracking her down, magazine full and all senses on high alert.

The only way she had to actually make it to the ammunition alive was to create a distraction. But how? She had nothing, not even a single rock on this perfectly flat floor, and the dim light prohibited any kind of plan, as she didn't know the place. And of course, as if there weren't enough odds against her, her enemy could see in the dark. Damn those Faunus advantages! A bumping noise was made on her right and she stopped dead in her tracks. That was her chance, perhaps her only chance.

Getting up to her feet, she started running across the shadowed room, turning abruptly and taking cover as the sound of ammunition firing was heard. She avoided them narrowly, eventually getting around the button she was searching. Pushing it and resuming her running, she afforded herself a satisfied smile as a thick fog crawled in the vast labyrinth from both the floor and ceiling, effectively blocking out everyone's view. She stopped running rapidly, hushing every noise she could make as best as she could.

Completely still, she heard rapid footsteps pass her and continue on their search of a prey. The pressure wasn't down for now, she still hadn't got herself new ammunitions. She still had to cross twice the maze she had already ran, being completely silent and most of all, not bumping into the enemy by mistake. Breathing deeply, she started walking again, careful as to not make the slightest noise. Walking in such thick fog was nerve-wracking, especially with this deep, menacing silence. Visibly, her opponent had decided to go stealth too.

Finally getting to the ammo rack, she took five magazines that she fixed as best as she could on her war outfit, before clicking a sixth one into her gun. Allowing her a full grin, she then pressed the ventilation button, knowing that nothing could stop her now. The fog dispersed, and she was about to hunt down the hunter… when she heard the distinct sound of an empty gun clicking not three feet from her. What a delicious irony.

She wouldn't let her prey escape though. Not hesitating a split second, she fired in the exact direction from where the noise had come, satisfied to hear a curse as she had most likely put her enemy scope to early retirement. She ran once more, for once glad that her workout had been that much centered around stamina lately, adjusted her shot and finally pulled the trigger.

Three bioluminescent paint ball crashed on her victim's back, and Yang raised up her fist in sign of victory as Blake turned to her.

"Okay, mixing paintball and laser tag is fun…" the raven-haired caught her breath slowly, "but way too stressing. Seriously."

* * *

Done, sorry for being late, I'm having a hard time focusing on writing lately… Me playing all sorts of Zelda games that I happened to find in old boxes might be related. Just a little.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and see you tomorrow !


	24. 24 - High

Steven Universe's "It's Over, isn't it?" – wonderful song, had some sad vibes not really linked to the fic, but I wanted to listen to it. Also, it contains some minor spoil of Steven Universe, so… watch the show before you listen to the song. It'll have way more impact

* * *

A sunny afternoon, a great book and the company of her favorite dragon… Blake sighed in delight at how perfect this day was to her. It was calm, and surprisingly, Yang was busying herself in silence not far from her. Yang being silent was unusual, but peeking from behind the cover of her book, Blake saw that she was deliberately remaining silent to let her read in peace. Smiling, she wondered for perhaps the millionth time how could someone be so kind.

Trying to persuade herself that she was indeed reading, she abruptly thought that one day or another she would have to admit her feelings for the blondie. Surprised by the impromptu thought, her cat ears raised up in surprise. Something was… weird. Somewhere deep inside her brain, an alarm bell rang as hard as it could, but it was too late. She didn't listen to it anymore.

Instead, she felt even better than before if that was even possible. She closed her eyes and her book, breathing in deeply a scent of lemon. Lemon? That's when she realized that the air was filled with the scent of lemon grass. She should have been worried by that, seeing how it always shot her feline instincts to their max… But she just couldn't. It was like all of her social barriers were down, as if she couldn't experience shame or restraint anymore. As she glanced toward Yang, the last rational part of her brain gave up, seeing that the brawler was busying herself with weaving lemon grass while sitting on a catnip plant.

She briefly realized why she loved the place that much before starting laughing out of the blue, almost ecstatic. That of course got the attention of her partner.

"Blake, you okay?" the blondie said worriedly

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" the Faunus laughed, giving up against gravity and letting herself fall in the grass. "I mean, the day is beautiful, the book is great, and the company is gorgeous. Why wouldn't I be fine?" she said, knowing very well that her future self would have to bear with the consequences of her words.

Knowing that her future self would die of shame once the effect of the plants would be down. Knowing, but not caring. Right now, she was high, and almost everything that got through her mind was probably going to be said without any filters. Which thinking about it, should have worried her. A lot.

"Wow, I'm not used to you being so… bold…" Yang said, visibly wondering what the fuck was going on. "You sure you're okay? Your pupils are like… really dilated."

Arching her back to stretch like a cat, she waited until her eyes met Yang's to speak again.

"You know that when looking at someone you love, your pupils can expand up to 45%?" she almost purred

"Is that a declaration?" Yang laughed

"Might be…"

Now that was a rare spectacle. Yang not knowing how to act or react, nervously rubbing her neck in utter embarrassment. To think that the table would be completely turned without those two innocent herbs! Sweet irony.

"So, if this is a declaration, what would your answer be?" Blake insisted, freed from all kind of nervousness.

"I… We could try to see… I mean I never really thought about it before… but… I guess…"

Finally turning on the ground to face Yang properly, Blake smiled and started to purr slowly.

Later, she would be split between absolute shame for being so reckless, and happiness for finally admitting everything and getting a positive response. But for now… she was just high.

* * *

Here, it's done! I like how it turned out.

How about… review answering? Yeah!

Firecat21870: Such enthusiasm is really pleasing, and I'd like to write smut perhaps as much as you want to read it… The only trouble is that I'm lame at it. Like really, really lame. I'll try anyway, but it is unlikely that it will be posted…

Anyways, thanks for reading and thanks to the reviewer, and I'll see you tomorrow!


	25. 25 - Summer Haze

No song today. Was listening to some narrative let's play.

* * *

It was a hot day of summer. Very hot day in fact, and the sun was burning almost everything in Menagerie. That though didn't prevent one of the most important event of Menagerie's summer to be completely crowded. The mains riverbanks were packed with perhaps hundred of Faunuses, all cheering and encouraging the five competitors that had their eyes fixed on the water. One of them was a dolphin, another was a fox, next to him stood a bear and the last two were felines, a white tiger and a cat. Said cat was Blake, and she was having a hard time focusing on the water with Yang cheering her from the side.

She was determined to win this year again. She couldn't let her place of best Fish Hunter go, even if it meant that she had to embarrass herself in front of her girlfriend. In any normal time, she would have felt no shame hunting fish bare-handed as it was a family tradition. But now that there was a witness… deep in her heart she felt a hesitation. Would she really let herself act so bold and let her instincts take full control when she had tried as hard as she could to impress Yang?

A silvery shining interrupted her line of thoughts, as she automatically modified her stance to get closer to the river, knowing that each and every one of her opponents had seen this shining too. As her eyes trailed on the water, she suddenly forgave the brilliant fish, as a more discreet one was sliding and twisting on the rocky river bed… A more discreet, and more importantly, twice as big. The crowd had silenced a little while ago, knowing that the heart of the competition was beating right now, and at almost exactly the same moment, every opponent abruptly dived into the water, all using their animal heritage at their best. For a few seconds, they all remained under the water, grasping around and preying for the biggest fish that had the misfortune to find itself between their claws.

Then they all emerged from the river, all proudly exhibiting their catch. As the elder approached to judge each catch by its rarity and size, Blake tried her best to keep a straight face and not dwell in embarrassment even though she was holding a fish between her teeth. The gigantic eel that she had spotted earlier was firmly held in her hands, but she hadn't resisted the urge to catch the carp that was stupid enough to pass in front of her while she was catching the eel. As the judges of the contest all admitted that Blake had won without a doubt, catching an extra fish and having in her hand the biggest fish of all five competitors, her loud whistling was heard over the crowd cheering.

"That's my Blakey!" Yang's voice rose proudly, while the blondie herself started crossing the river to join the group.

Blushing fiercely, Blake had a thought time keeping the two fishes, knowing full well that it would inevitably lead to a full load of Yang-styled puns. Finally managing to hold the eel with one hand, she freed herself from the carpy gag only to realize that she had absolutely nothing to say.

"Cat got your tongue Blakey?" Yang mocked, having completely forgotten that half of Kuo Kuana was watching them

Blake opened her mouth to answer but was silenced by Yang's lips pressing against her. Closing her eyes, she too forgot the whole public around, fading herself into the kiss. There was still one rational part of her silently praying that her parents weren't around, even if that would only delay the inevitable… When Yang finally pulled away, she had a mischievous grin plastered on her face.

"Think your parents will notice that our situation is… fishy?" the sunny dragon said, visibly very proud of her pun.

* * *

Quarter of the way done! And I wrote this three hours late. I should really discipline myself. Anyway… once again it's a bit far-fetched, but I've been wanting to write this since I saw a fan art of Blake in a fish-hunting contest. How about review answering?

SomeRandoFromTX : Yeah, I too want to play that game now… The more I wrote it, the more I realized it could really be awesome. And yeah of course, winners don't do drugs. Never wanted to pass another message, should have been a little more careful around 'High' right? About Steven Universe, if you're interested then go watch it, it's a really good series. Now my propaganda work is done, where's my money? Ah yeah that's right, I didn't do that for money…

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you tomorrow !


	26. 26 - Tear

Was listening to Panic! At the Disco's "Girls/Girls/Boys". Also, little warning, this one won't be as fluffy as the usual and I'm attacking a subject that I do not know entirely.

* * *

With a subtle mix of disgust and hatred blocking her throat, Raven entered the church as she did every Sunday. She was still shocked by what she had seen, and she had to warn her best friend, Kali Belladonna of it. Taking place on the church benches, she patiently waited for the first prayer to be said, before striking up a conversation.

"Kali? Could I speak to you after mass?"

"Of course! You seem worried, is there something wrong?" Kali replied, concerned

"Yes, and that's why I want to speak to you."

Kali had to content herself with that short explanation, since the prayers started again. About an hour and a half later, when every worshipper started to head home, the two friends stopped under the church porch. For a second, Raven thought about trying to spare Kali's feeling, before opting on a more violent and direct option.

"Your daughter is covering herself in sins." She said, her disgust fully renewed, though her anger had been replaced with sympathy for her cat-eared friend

"How can you say such things?" Kali protested. "I know she isn't the most diligent of believers, but to say that she sins…"

"I wouldn't accuse her if I didn't have proofs," Raven said, kindly pacing a hand on Kali's shoulder. "I saw her yesterday in the park. She was kissing a girl, Kali." Ignoring the look of shame and disgust on her friend's face, she pursued. "It's not your fault, you've done as much as you could, and I'm not here to accuse you. In fact, I understand exactly what you're feeling."

A second of silence passed, as Raven clenched her teeth to avoid puking at the mere thought of what she was going to say.

"The girl she was kissing was my daughter, Yang."

She shared an understanding and sympathetic look with the Faunus, before both started heading home while planning a way to get their children's out of sins.

Yang and Blake were walking in the park side by side, as they used to do every Sunday morning. It was one of the rare moments of all the town's bigots were cooped up in churches, one of the rare moments they could enjoy the bliss of being together in open air. They were making small talk, hand in hands, admiring the view and – in Yang's case at least – the other one. Smiling, the blondie couldn't help but tenderly replace a strand of loose hair behind Blake's ears, soon finding herself closing up the distance between them for a slight kiss.

A kiss that she would have deepened, if only she hadn't been interrupted so sharply by a voice that she knew all too well, a voice that automatically turned her eyes a crimson red.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" Raven said, getting out of the bushes from where she was hiding

Defensively placing herself in front of Blake – in case her 'mother' lose her marbles again – Yang raised her chin in defiance.

"Fuck off." She simply said, knowing that the vulgarity would chase her away as would holy water do on a vampire.

"I can't believe that you've become such a sinner. Let me guess, your incompetent of a father didn't say anything?" Raven pursued, her words crawling like venomous snakes

"I said fuck off. And if I remember correctly, Mom and Dad said you the same when you came crashing into our lives to claim me back." Yang added, moving slowly to keep herself between Raven and Blake.

She was playing a dangerous game, upsetting Raven like that, but she was determined to keep her out of her life as much as possible. And that meant saying her to fuck off as many times as needed for her to understand it.

What she wasn't expecting though, was the frail, almost broken voice that suddenly raised from the same bushes.

"Blake... I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it…" Kali got out of the bushes, under Raven's infuriatingly proud smirk. "But it was true."

Yang suddenly felt caught in the crossfire, knowing that the situation had complexified immensely in a few seconds. Raven's insult would do little to no effect, she knew that she was just a bitch, and she had explained it to Blake. But Kali's intervention… it would shake Blake. Deeply. Blake who was actually biting her lower lip, tears and guilt easily readable in her eyes. Blatantly ignoring her biological mother, Yang turned to her girlfriend, realizing that both their relationship and Blake's wellbeing were at stake.

"Blake…" for a second, she had been tempted to call her sweetie as she was used to, but she decided otherwise at the last second. That wouldn't bring anything good. "Don't listen to them, there's no shame in being who you are…"

"She's a sinner!" Raven voice intruded, rapidly silenced by a furious glare

"You shut the fuck up. Last time I checked, you had no right over me or Blake, so you better get the hell out of here before I call the police for harassment." Yang's voice hadn't raised, which was a very bad sign. A sign that she was truly, deeply infuriated.

Wisely, Raven choose to keep quiet and started to walk away, still angry but not wanting to risk being imprisoned. First threat managed, now Yang had to confront a subtler – and more vicious – threat. Turning to Blake's mother, and as Raven got out of her thoughts and hopefully her life, she felt her eyes get back to a lavender tint.

"Miss Belladonna?" she sighed. "I'm sorry that you had to assist to that… Raven and I aren't exactly in good terms. And I'm sorry that we have hidden this from you, it only complicated everything."

Kali joined her hands without saying anything, visibly destabilized by Raven's departure and by Yang's sudden change in attitude. Meanwhile, Blake kept herself behind Yang, too ashamed to confront her mother's deceived looks.

"I know it's hard to question something that you've thought your entire life but… we're not hurting anyone. Why would it be sinful to love someone?" Yang added slowly, not wanting to antagonize her.

"But the Bible…" Kali hesitated

"The Bible never said anything about homosexuality. It said "Love one another" it never précised anything about gender"

No answer.

"Maybe we could talk about this, somewhere more comfortable?" Yang hazarded slowly. "We could organize a meeting, between my parents and you and your husband?" she tried once more

A minute of a silence so thick you could have cut through it with a knife passed, before Kali slowly acquiesced, and Yang started breathing again.

Deep inside, she knew that letting something as stupid as religion tear them apart was out of the question.

* * *

Late, late I'm always late! Starting to feel like Alice's white rabbit… Did I mention that I thought about writing a crossover between Alice in Wonderlands and RWBY? No? Then now it's done.

I am way to tired to write, look at that nonsense in my AN… Anyways, hope you enjoyed the fic and I'll see you tomorrow pals !

 **EDIT :** Thanks to _SomeRandoFromTX_ , for pointing out that I was very wrong about what Yang said on the Bible. I'm a profane, and I don't want to hurt anyone, I just left it that way because in this story Yang is almost as ignorant of the Bible's content as I am. And for next time, I'll know better than to write on a subject that I don't know well. Once again, sorry if I hurt or infuriated anyone, that wasn't the point at all.


	27. 27 - Rock Star

Panic! At the Disco's "Miss Jackson" today.

* * *

Blake breathed deeply, her hand slightly shaking while holding the letter that had brought her here. She could barely believe that after all those years, their promise hadn't been broken. That after moving overseas and loosing almost all contacts with her childhood friend, life got her another chance. She entered the building, stress completely blocking her throat and weighing on her shoulders, unsure of what or who she would find inside of it.

The last time she had seen Yang, they both had around thirteen years old and she had to leave the country… She remembered an energic, cheerful and boisterous blondie that tried her best to make everyone around her laugh and she was scared that in that studio she would stumble on someone completely different. After all, she too had changed much since then…

Entering the recording studio, she was greeted by the sight of a tall, muscular woman tuning an electric guitar, while a younger one was setting up a battery a little behind. Biting her lower lip in hesitation, Blake ended up coughing slightly to attract both girls' attention, regretting almost immediately when she was met with two inquisitive looks.

"Umh… Yang?" Blake hazarded, suddenly fearing that she was in the wrong place. Of course, the two people in front of her seemed familiar, but perhaps that was just a mistake?

"Oh my god, Blake is that you?" Yang suddenly realized, an enormous smile plastered on her face. "I can't believe it! You've changed so much!" She added, rapidly storing her guitar on a proper support before making a few quick steps toward Blake.

"Yeah, I get that a lot…" Blake simply said, glad that time hadn't made things awkward between them. "So, you're a Rockstar now?"

"Kind of. Ruby's giving me a hand, but we're lacking a singer and songwriter…" she briefly designed the rest of the room with her hand. "And I thought of you. I know we promised to get a band together before you had to move out of the country. How about we honor that promise?"

Visibly, Yang still had her signature flippancy, proposing to a childhood friend to join one of the most promising rising star rock band. All of the sudden, Blake was glad that she had never abandoned the thought of making music, and that she had pursued her music classes. Without those five hours a week, she probably couldn't have shown up here. To her, it felt almost like some kind of destiny was working hard to mend the distance that had separated them. That or they were both really attached to that specific childhood promise.

"Seems good to me," she answered with a smile. "To be honest, I was starting to think that you had forgotten it… When I got your letter, I hoped on the first plane I could find."

They started to make small talk, and slowly, easily, old habits returned. It was as if all those years separated by an ocean had disappeared. Blake had came back to follow her dreams, and she intended to make up for lost time.

* * *

Done! While searching what to write, I found an idea for that kind of AU, that I preciously stored away for a longer fanfic… You'll definitely hear more about rock bands around here some time!

SomeRandoFromTX: uh oh… made a mistake, right? I won't lie by telling you that I knew that, I'm an atheist that never read any of those books… I'll precise in the AN that it's wrong, but I think I can leave the fiction that way, since I made Yang about as profane as I am. Sorry if I wronged anyone, I really didn't want to. Should have known not to write on religion too, I'm way too biased on the subject… No hard feelings?

Once again, I truly apologize… And I'll see you tomorrow pals.


	28. 28 - Sorrow

I took a day out from writing because I was at a convention all day... Sorry about that. Maybe I'll write this theme at the end of the challenge, maybe not. i'm not really sure.


	29. 29 - Hapiness

I know, I know… there's no chapter 28. Actually, it was supposed to be on the theme "Sorrow", but I was at a convention all day and when I came back, I just crashed into sleep. Sorry again… Listening to Jeff William's "Triumph" today

* * *

Blake closed her eyes and tightened her grasp on Yang's waist, unable to bypass the fear that had stroke her heart when the motorcycle had started roaring. The engine was purring, devouring the distance at an incredible speed and carrying it's two passengers over the asphalt roads of Vale. Its powerful cry was both frightening and reassuring, slowly but surely encouraging the raven-haired Faunus to open her eyes, revealing to her amidst the blur of circulation the beauty of the setting sun.

They were riding toward the vermillion fireball, flirting with the first shadows of the night while always staying in it's light, and that's when Blake understood why Yang loved riding in the sunset that much. The atmosphere felt almost irreal, as if they were in-between two worlds, or chasing after a diminishing light and for a second, Blake thought that she was living a moment worthy of being described in a fairytale. Then, she relaxed and slightly relieved the pressure on her dragon's waist. Smiling beneath her helmet, she felt a rush of love for the blondie that had insisted upon showing her such scenery, even when she had expressed her concerns about the speed and the security.

The speed was too high, and Yang was too focused on the road to notice that she was now fascinated by the scenery, at least that's what Blake thought. Yang, even if her eyes were fixed on the road to avoid any bump or holes – which would have been really uncomfortable and dangerous at such speed – had followed the progressive changes in her girlfriend's mood through her position and the pressure applied to her waist. She knew that Blake had been worried at first, scared that she would fall off the bike as anyone would be at such speed, but she also knew that at some point, she had trusted her enough to stop worrying and enjoy the view. Feeling a smile creep on her face almost against her will, the blondie made sure to choose the most beautiful road, taking some hairpin turns to get onto one of the greatest bridges of Vale.

It sure wasn't as beautiful as riding atop Patch's cliffs with a setting or rising sun but crossing the silvery uproar of the river on an asphalt road only sustained by arachnidan cables was worth the trip. Luckily, time was with them as the sun completely disappeared when they got at the middle of the bridge, suddenly dipping everything around in blurred shadows, while the first artificial lights started to shine like bioluminescent insects. Having a precise destination in her mind, Yang started slowing down progressively, before stopping near an all-night café. It was a simple, cozy place that she wouldn't even have considered a few years ago… the kind of place she had come to like thanks to her girlfriend. She stored both helmets and secured the lock on her bike, before they both entered the café.

She had planned out, and a table was reserved for them, just beside a bay window that allowed them to admire the view. Sitting, and waiting for their orders, both women thought as one that they were happy. Tremendously happy.

* * *

Done! Simple but fluffy and nice today.

SomeRandoFromTX: Don't you worry, you weren't aggressive. You were right to point it out to me, and I thank you for that. Also yeah, I'm biased on religion mostly because my parents tried to force me into it… But that's another story. More importantly, I didn't mean that I wouldn't write on religion anymore, I meant that I'd make sure to double-check what I'm writing next time. I'm always collecting more or less useful info, so it'll just give me an excuse to search and learn.

I'm glad there's no hard feeling despite that, and glad that you'll still read! I really like having feedback on my chapters, and I always find it interesting to discuss them.

Anyways, I'll see you all tomorrow !


	30. 30 - Umbrella

Today was « Say Amen (Saturday Night)" from panic! At the Disco – yeah, you probably noticed that I really love this group. And that I tend to listen to a song I like again and again, until I can't bear to hear it.

* * *

"Why are we doing that again?" Blake asked, hesitantly staring at the umbrella yang had gave her.

"Because that ice cream girl with her umbrella beat me way too easily, and I don't want that to happen ever again," Yang replied with a smile as if it was the most logic of things.

Still, Blake had troubles understanding why she had asked her to help. Or how she was supposed to fight with this thing, as she figured it was probably very different from using Gambol Shroud. But most of all, she didn't understand why the umbrella had to be green with little frogs painted on the canopy. She turned it a few times in her hands, trying to decide whether she would use it as her sword or sheath, all the while trying to keep serious despite the obvious stupidity of her acts. She raised her eyes toward her partner, receiving a slight nod of approval to her silent question.

She then started moving, surprisingly adapting herself quite rapidly to the weird weapon. In the end, it was just like fighting with a wooden sword: there was no edge, but you could still pretend that you were dealing damages. Trying to remember Neo's fighting style, she forced herself to be mobile, never staying in the same place for too long. Once she was comfortable enough with the weapon, she whistled Yang to start punching – or more likely, try to punch.

Avoiding Yang's punches or deflecting them with a sharp blow to the elbows and forearms, she suddenly understood why Yang wanted to train against this fighting style. It was way too easy for her to play with the blondie, never being truly menaced by any of her hits. And she wasn't even as agile as Neo was!

But at some point, she made a mistake. An understandable mistake, but a fatal one nonetheless: as she deflected one of Yang's blow, a part of her mind caught a glimpse of the green ridiculousness of her weapon. Which resulted in her eyes automatically closing in a subtle mix of shame and laughter, oh no more than half a second. But that half second was all that kept her out of danger, that half second was the only advance time that she had between her and Yang's iron-willed attempts to hit her. And losing it meant losing her advantage.

Yang saw the opening in her guard, and her lightning-fast reflexes enhanced by the combat situation did the rest. Her right hand got ahold of the umbrella, yanking it toward her while her left hand went to grab Blake's right forearm, amplifying the movement that had already tripped the raven-haired Faunus. Turning on her feet to follow her partner's fall, she ended up being the only thing preventing Blake from crashing on the ground as she was still holding her by the arm.

"Your money or your life?" Yang teased, a smile on her lips as she saw how stunned Blake was.

However, that stun didn't last long, and soon the bookworm pulled on her arm, closing the distance between the two of them. Hooking her second arm behind Yang's neck, Blake brought them just a little closer, until their lips met… And when they parted, she replied with a mischievous smile:

"Is that enough of a ransom?"

* * *

Done! I'm really having fun writing all of these, even if sometimes I do wonder what the hell I'm supposed to write on the subject.

SomeRandoFromTX: Well yeah, hopefully the rest of my education was based on open-mindedness and tolerance… So as weird as it seems, I despise religion in general but I respect that some people have a different point of view, and I couldn't even consider thinking less of someone because they are religious. And thanks for the compliment, it really warms my heart ! I guess it's my 'French touch'. And you're right, Yang is often taking Blake on adventures, but I think that's because in my conception, Yang is the most adventurous of the two. Your idea of letting Blake take Yang into her own world is great, and I think I'll try to develop it a little more whenever I find the right subject. I've already made some shy attempt, like when Blake read one of her favorites books to Yang (in 'Smile' I think), but I think I can go a little further.

Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you all tomorrow!


	31. 31 - Flowers

Again, I let Spotify run in the background however it wanted.

* * *

That for once was surprising, almost table turning. I mean for Blake to be shy around someone she happened to find cute! Blushing, she internally sighed. As if it wasn't her daily lot to be shy, embarrassed and absolutely asocial. As if she hadn't taken those self-defense classes to feel a little more comfortable with herself.

Well spoilers, it was the exact opposite. Now she was embarrassingly having a crush on her teacher – a gorgeous blonde woman by the way – and fighting herself over whether to verbalize it or not. She had these classes twice a week, and the only way she had found to keep herself as calm as she needed to be to actually get out of her home was to read some new romance books… Which was both an immense error and the greatest idea she ever had, as one day she made a completely random and seemingly stupid decision. She had just read about the flower language, and somehow her brain thought it was a great idea to use it in her current situation.

And that's how she ended up leaving a single belladonna with a little card bearing the word "I" at the end of one of her classes. And now that she had started, she just couldn't stop in the middle of it. She kept leaving flowers, one by one, with their little cards… And even though she saw them delicately placed in vases on the shelves, Yang didn't make any remark about it. The only time she actually spoke about them was when one of the other students noticed their increasing number and asked her about it… And she said one only word: "Gift" all the while smiling and shrugging.

And as much as Blake wanted to hit her head on the nearest solid surface for that stupid idea, she couldn't stop now. She was already gone through half her message, and she might as well keep going. So she kept leaving behind flowers, with a little card if it was a new word. Why she had gone with such complicated and crypted message? No idea. Perhaps it was just her way to express that she wanted it both to be read and to be ignored. Or perhaps it was just because she was an overly romantic book-reader that loved complications. Either one.

Then, after months of that little circus, she left her final note. A single red rose, bearing a card with a single question mark on it. It was the moment of truth, the end of her message… the tipping point. She had expected to walk out of the gym, to receive her answer the next week or perhaps never…

She wasn't ready at all when she turned to see that Yang was between her and the exit door. A bouquet of flowers in her hand. Feeling her heart beat faster and faster, Blake's mind started to linger on random details to calm itself, like how many stripes on the window – 5 – how many people still in the gym beside her and Yang – 0 – the type of flowers that were in Yang's hand…

A sunflower, a lily, a chrysanthemum, a white rose. Which, her brain couldn't help but translate with the code she had created, should mean "I will with pleasure". Voiceless, she could just stare as the blonde dragon smiled and showed one last flower, an ambrosia.

"Your love is reciprocated". Blake had spent too much time on searching flower language – in order to fully understand the book that had originally got her that idea – that she couldn't ignore it. Emotion all over her pathetic self and nothing in her brain seeming to work normally, she managed to muster a shy smile.

It seemed that, after all, stupidly romantic love wasn't restricted to books.

* * *

Done! Late again but done nonetheless. A big thanks to my beta reader – who I should call my alpha-reader and idea-giver seeing how this guy help me with writing – who helped me find a work to give to Yang. Yeah, it might seem like a little detail but… I'm that kind of author that just can't write if they don't wrap their head around the surroundings of the fanfic.

Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you pals tomorrow !


	32. 32 - Night

I think I'll stop telling you which son I listen to, since It's more and more random every day.

* * *

Blake was crouched atop of one of the many roofs in Vale, her eyes piercing the dark and observing her next prey carefully. Except that for now, she had to stop thinking to herself as 'Blake Belladonna' the shy bookseller that lived a simple and discreet life. Right now, as almost every night since she had discovered that she had a Semblance, she was no one. A mere shadow trying her best to reduce the quite impressive amount of crime in the night live of the city.

When you thought about it, it was almost ridiculous. She had been crawling around at night, playing superhero, all of that for half a year now, and she still couldn't find herself a name. Not that it really mattered, since in real life there was no villain explaining their plot laughing, nor superhero making a theatric entrance yelling their name. No, real life was cold, and if her shadows clone had awakened in her a will to rescue widows and orphan, it hadn't made her a reckless fighter either. She had started by learning to fight with self-defense and other fighting classes, before even thinking about wearing a mask to do justice herself.

She was here in her thoughts when a wall of the warehouse she had successfully infiltrated literally exploded in a burst of golden flames, a strong silhouette slowly appearing in the inferno.

"Who the fuck are you?!" a voice raised from one of the 'employees' verbalizing what was probably everyone's thoughts in the room, Blake included.

"I am your doom," the silhouette yelled, getting out of the flames to punch the nearest guy straight in the guts.

Blake couldn't help but slap herself, forgetting where she was and how silent she was supposed to be. The newcomer was the perfect cliché of a comics fan trying to imitate a superhero: she was wearing nothing but a black eye mask to conceal her identity, blatantly annunciating herself and losing all surprise effect… Sighing, Blake decided that if she wanted that woman to survive this night, she had to intervene. She let herself fall from her upright hiding post, rapidly eliminating the guard that was too close in her taste. She automatically checked that her landing hadn't disturbed her kitsune mask and cloak, before zigzagging from one shadow to the other, leaving a trail of death behind her.

She had no remorse killing those men, since she had seen them do far worse in the few nights that she had spent spying on them. Her only care right now was to get that woman out of trouble before she could get seriously injured.

And she was very surprise to find that the woman in question didn't need her help at all, punching around and sending her enemies fly seemingly without the slightest effort. Still mostly hidden in the dark, she had the opportunity to finally take a closer look at the stranger. She noted three things: first, she was very muscular and seemingly familiar with fist-fighting, explaining how she could handle such situation as if it was her everyday life. Second, her eyes were flaming red, despite the fact that she seemed to enjoy herself immensely. Third, her golden mane was literally burning resulting in a quite important confusion into Blake's mind as to know why and how this was possible.

"Thanks for taking care of the other" the blondie suddenly said, having stunned the last of her enemies. "But you could have avoided killing them."

Blake hesitated about half a second before suspiciously extricating herself from the shadows – maniacally checking if her mask was still perfectly in place.

"Not the talking type, huh?" the blondie added, shrugging. "We better start talking if we're gonna protect this city alongside."

"I never asked for a partner," Blake said trying her best to mask her way too frail bookworm voice.

"You'll get one anyway. My little nickname's Blaze by the way, what's yours?" the not-so-blondie anymore added.

Which added to Blake's confusion, since she was seeing the other's eyes morph from ruby red to a smooth lavender, and more than that, her flaming mane was slowly extinguishing and loosing its color to get back to a more ash-blonde color. Not to mention that now she needed a name.

"Still not talking? Fine. Don't complain if I start calling you Cloak," the other shrugged, before waving. "I think I'll head home. See you around a burglary sometimes?"

Flabbergasted, it took Blake a few seconds to get her mind back to reality and to flee toward her own home. She was still a bit mixed up in her feelings about this encounter… but somehow it reassured her. She wasn't the only one that was morphing when using her Semblance – the memory of the first time she had seen the cat ears wasn't enough to make her cringe now that she knew it could be a side-effect. Also, she had to admit that she was happy to have another hero to help her defend this part of the city. The fiery woman had made quite an impression on her, that was one thing she couldn't deny.

* * *

Brain! Brain come back here I need you! Stop playing around cocaine and weird Zelda theories!

Just kidding, never touched any cocaine. But I'm still wondering how by reading 'Night' I came to think of Catwoman and Miraculous Ladybug at the same time. I kinda like the idea of semblance morphing you though… And one more AU I can add to the pile of 'development needed'.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the read and I'll see you tomorrow!


	33. 33 - Smooth

I'm late, I didn't forget! I'll explain more on bottom AN… Today was "Meet me on the battlefield" mentioning because it truly goes with this fic.

* * *

Everything had started because of this text. Eight little words numerically printed on her phone, that had changed so much in her life, in such little time… Driving toward the club, Blake resisted the urge to check the message again, to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. It was probably just a drunken text, or someone else fooling around with Yang's phone… But she couldn't get out of her head this "I think I've fallen in love with you…"

She was worried. For someone as social as Yang, admitting these kinds of things could be crushing. Especially in a world where homosexuality was a bump in society, a world where the leaders wanted everything to be smoothed out. A damned world where each kid was told very young that anything else than heterosexuality was a disease, a sin, something shameful. A world that could bring a sober Yang to tears, and a drunk Yang to extreme reactions.

She parked in front of the nightclub, in the middle of empty bottles and party remaining, worried that she would be to late. It was a quarter past three, she had been awake by blind luck, having to write a chapter for tomorrow absolutely… Such luck was unusual, and she was anxiously thinking about when her luck would abandon her.

Entering the building, she felt assaulted by the loud drumming music and by the numerous glare that lingered on her, either surprised to see her enter in a casual dressing or drunken hungry. This was definitely not her world, and she fastened her pace toward the bar as she supposed the barman would probably know where Yang was. After all, she was known to drink a lot and party more, and every barman in this part of the city knew better than to let her get out of sight.

"Sir?" she tried, not wanting to spend a single second more than needed in this place.

"Sir? Well you're definitely not a regular!" the barman laughed, mixing in a shaker from an expert hand. "What can I do for you miss?"

"I'm searching for someone. Yang Xiao Long, tall, muscular, a golden mane and lavender eyes. Do you happen to know where she is?"

"I do know where she is, but I'm not sure now is the best moment to talk to her."

Blake's eyes widened, and her heart started racing as her overthinking mind immediately thought about the worst.

"She's completely down…" the barman added with a slight movement of his head toward another part of the counter.

"That's why I'm here" Blake answered, feeling her heart break when she saw the mess of blonde hair slumped on the countertop… And break a little more when she saw her back raise and lower erratically. She was crying.

She approached her friend and placed a hand on her back, for now just wanting to comfort her. Yang raised her head, probably surprised by the sudden contact, and lowered it immediately in shame, not even able to look at Blake in this state. Seeing her usually boisterous and proud friend in such broken, ashamed state was a hard time for Blake.

"Yang? How about we get out of here?" she suggested, regretting that she couldn't whisper because of that damn music

Not saying anything, Yang nodded and got up to start wobble toward the entrance door. At least now Blake would have a chance to reason and help her… When they passed the barman, Blake gave him a thankful nod before focusing on helping Yang walk as straight as possible to the exit. Now under a less gaudy light, Yang seemed even more broken. Helping her toward her car, Blake couldn't retain a tear from falling of her own eyes… She was looking at the terrible portrait of a broken giant, the delicate lighting of the moon highlighting her reddened eyes and tear-strained cheeks, her drunken walk tripping over what could have been the remains of her obliterated pride.

The ride back to Yang's place was awfully silent, Blake searching her words to comfort the blondie while said dragon was simply crying, face in her hand and elbow on the armrest in a sobbing Leaning Tower of Pisa. Blake helped her once again, out of the car and into her small apartment. Collapsing at the foot of her bed, Yang spoke for the first time of the night.

"Do… do you hate me?" she said with a croaky, broken voice. As broken as her owner probably was right now.

Crouching in front of her, Blake delicately wiped out a tear on her cheek with a sad smile.

"I'll never hate you, Yang. Even less because you love me."

It was a long run ahead of them, trying to get Yang to accept her feelings as normal, and nothing told them that she would still remember tomorrow when she would be sober… But still, Blake wanted to try. Seeing that her crying had stopped, she got up again, ready to leave and restart that conversation later, but Yang's pleading voice stopped her.

"Could… could you stay?" her voice was frail, almost child-like, and she raised pleading eyes on Blake. "I'm afraid that… That I'd do something stupid if I stay alone…"

"Of course," Blake answered, feeling a rush of care and sympathy for this lost woman.

She helped Yang slip under the cover, before recovering a striped plaid and making herself comfortable on the sofa. A few seconds before slipping into unconsciousness, she muttered a soft "We'll talk about this tomorrow, okay?" that was answered only by a peaceful silence. She fell asleep with a smile, knowing that Yang had finally stopped crying.

* * *

Yeah, I know… I actually forgot to write yesterday. I was working on a project with my beta-reader, something manga/comics about a Yuri metal group manager that has to take care of 4 young idols… At a quarter past 3 in the morning, I had barely finished drawing the first page and I went to sleep without even checking the day's theme. (yeah, that 'quarter pas three' thing in the fanfiction was deliberate)

Sorry… But don't worry, today's theme will be written too! So I won't see you tomorrow, but in a while !


	34. 34 - Stars

Wait… If I stop telling you which music I listen to… does it mean that upper AN will disappear?

* * *

The two women kept quiet as they made their way through a hostile jungle, Yang keeping her gun armed and ready in case the local fauna happened to be uncooperative, while Blake carefully carried a bunch of samples she had taken deeper in the forest. A few minutes later, they pushed the door of the spaceship, their return capsule securely fastened to the airlock and a much lighter and joyous atmosphere literally floating around as the dangers of the alien jungle were left behind.

Once guns and sample were duly scratched and secured in their respective storage case, the two women turned to each other, smiling.

"I still can't believe you actually got us a place together in this project." Blake said, still not quite used to zero-gravity.

"What can I say? Having your sister date the company's owner sure helps," Yang replied with a smile, before expertly propelling herself toward Blake. "But I would have found a way nonetheless."

"Aww, thank you!"

Blake knew that she was completely smitten for her dragon, and the fact that she was genuinely caring and thoughtful was just a bonus point to melt her heart entirely. It had always been her dream to study alien plants and animals, and now she was living it thanks to her love and friends. The discover of new Dust mix allowing faster transport without side-effects had allowed space exploring to develop and expand at a crazy high speed a few years ago, and all of the little children that dreamed of traveling amongst the star now could fulfill their dreams.

Sure, it was a little bit far from Remnant, and she could go home only one month in five years… But to Blake it was a small price to pay to live in space. Not to mention that she was lucky enough to have a separate ship, a 'MobLab' as they called it, only occupied by her and Yang. No need to lose all privacy amongst dozens of other cosmonauts, it was just them. A scientist and a Marine to ensure her safety. A dream that had come reality, so perfect that Blake had to pinch herself regularly to make sure she was awake. The only negative in all of that was the quite brutal changing in gravity when they shifted from the planet's surface to their vessel… It was always a little disturbing, and it took her a few minutes, sometimes a few hours, to adjust her strength to the new conditions.

Yang always seemed to rock it, as if it was perfectly natural for her… That's probably why she made the most of the distance between them before Blake got out of her thoughts and tried as best as she could to join her partner without violently bumping her. Finally getting close enough for Yang to enlace her, she closed her eyes and placed her head on the blondie's shoulder, feeling tremendously happy. Eyes still half-closed, her lips met Yang's in a delicate expression of love and care while deep inside her mind, she thought that this was what 'being over the moon' truly felt like.

When they finally parted, they both realized that they were now head down, without having noticed anything thanks to the absence of gravity, which made Yang laugh. Blake placed a soft kiss on her nose and Yang reciprocated with one on the forehead before they finally found the strength to end the hug, both of them getting back to their usual tasks. As usual as a task could be in the middle of space.

* * *

Late, but I truly didn't forget this time! Seriously, I'm starting to think that if I ever post a chapter in time it'll be a miracle…

Nice and simple today… yeah I know, tell me 'Star' and I'll think about space scientist on an alien planet. You don't see the link? Me neither… But I know better than to question my brain x)

Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you tomorrow!


	35. 35 - Journey

Okay I'm definitely not a "stick-to-the-plan" kind of guy. More like a "make-a-plan-and-then-get-distracted" … I'm really sorry that I can't bring myself to meet the deadline lately, but I've started some new projects that tend to make me forget time… You'll have a hundred bumblebees, I swear!

* * *

Crossing seas toward Menagerie, Yang took a few seconds to remember away from the joyous distractions that were her father, uncle and sister. It seemed important to her as it was the whole point of this travel. To remember Summer's sacrifice. To remember that her mother had given her life to defend those who were persecuted. To remember that value was not due to your birth but to your acts.

It was especially important for her, as it had allowed her to understand that whoever carried her for nine months, it was Summer that had raised her and thus become her mother. Somehow it was part of her identity, and perhaps that was the reason why she took a few moments on each day of this commemorative journey to remember and thank. Of course it was a family trip, and they would all spend one day talking about Summer related memories at the foot of the wall that bore every victim fallen for the Faunus' cause, human and Faunus alike… but they all had their own ways of making this trip special. Qrow had left his flask at home and engaged to stay sober for the whole trip, Ruby had swapped her usual crimson cape for Summer's white, Taiyang openly spoke about his deceased wife to his daughter, and Yang took a few minutes each day to bring out memories.

And that's how year after year the pain of this fateful date had been eased, each member doing it's best to keep going, as Summer would have wanted. It had become automatic, everything soon becoming a ritual, and that's why Yang felt completely lost when one day she saw someone else at the memorial.

It was a tall woman with black hair and alabaster skin, carefully replacing the flowers in each vase and pausing a few seconds in front of each name column. Hesitating, Yang truly didn't know what to do. Was it appropriate to casually greet her? Still conflicted on what to do, she didn't move until the girl came close enough to notice her.

"Hello," she said, relieving Yang from her interrogations.

"Hello…" the blondie answered awkwardly

"You're here to commemorate?" the raven-haired added with a smile

"Yeah… my mother," she said nervously rubbing the back of her neck.

She felt completely ridiculous, not knowing what to do or how to make the situation less awkward… And then she realized she had been completely rude.

"And you?" she hasted, before realizing that it was perhaps completely unclear. "I mean, you're here to commemorate too?"

"Kind of." She replaced another vase with a swift movement, before turning back to Yang. "It's kind of a family tradition, we come here every month to replace the flower and remember those who fell. I should have done it a week ago, but I fell sick so here I am. I'm Blake by the way," she explained, extending her arm.

"Yang," the blondie said shaking it

She still had troubles processing everything Blake had said, flabbergasted that she was by the girl's calm, poise and kindness. Not to mention her soft voice, glimmering eyes and angelic smile. When finally her brain agreed on functioning, she had two things in mind: "I'd like to get to know her" and "God if sis', dad or Qrow sees me I won't hear the end of it".

* * *

Okay it's done… Completely late! Once again sorry, I can't focus on this lately… Writing 'Night' gave me too much ideas, and I went on with drawing some concept art for a superhero AU… Plus I had to get back to some older projects like some videos for my YouTube channel (it's French, but if you have any interest in 4 people doing what goes through their mind at the time, it's called "Equipe MRAG")…

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one. I was absolutely not inspired so I don't really like it but…. Meh.

See you later for today's chapter !


	36. 36 - White

I'm writing late. One hour late, that's not as bad as yesterday's theme that was around twelve hours late. I know, this AN is useless, but I can't bring myself to let it disappear.

* * *

"Ah, I forgot something in the kitchen… Go ahead, I'll join you outside!" Yang said, checking her pockets one more time to be sure.

After a simple, lovely nod, Blake went outside, and she had a few seconds to breathe and stop worrying. She had truly forgotten something in the kitchen, but it wasn't her car keys nor gloves… What she had almost forgotten was the small, black velvet box that contained most of her hopes. Rushing toward the kitchen, more to express some of her nervousness than because she was really in a hurry, she sighed while placing the ring's box in one of her coat front's pocket. She still couldn't bring herself out of her anxiety, wanting to believe that everything would go for the best but still fearing the worst…

And she still wasn't sure as to why she had chosen to wait until winter had come, covered everything in a thick white mantle and gloomed everything in ice to make her proposal. Well she still couldn't find anything else that "I chickened out since Spring". But today she was determined, despite the gloomy weather, despite the ambient cold, despite her damned mind constantly reminding her that everything could go wrong, today she would ask Blake to marry her.

They had spent five years together, five years of pure happiness… And though some may consider it early, Yang knew she could spend the rest of her life with her, if she was willing to. Plus, who decided at which relationship duration it was okay to propose? Was there an implicit rule or something about that? Breathing deeply, she realized that she had come back to the entrance door, and that she was infinitely closer to the fateful moment that she thought.

Pushing the door open, the first thing she noticed was that the snow was a little more than knee-high, which even for the season was quite impressive. The second thing she noticed was that Blake was nowhere to be seen, and that worried her. She should have spotted her immediately, with her dark-colored outfit and hair… but no, Blake was nowhere to be found. At the exact second she took a deep breath to call her lover's name, something knocked the wind out of her and pushed her in a puddle of snow, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

They would have widened in terror, would the 'aggressor' not have been Blake, who was now laughing, Yang still pinned to the ground under her.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," she paused, knowing that she had made a mistake as a playful grin was now stretching Yang's lips

"Predatory instinct, is that? You should be more careful when choosing your preys…" Turning table in her favor – and putting snow absolutely everywhere in her pockets, though that's just details – Yang got herself over Blake before finishing her sentence. "Dragons happen to be stronger than cats."

As both laughed, they got up clumsily and brushed the snow out of their clothes more ore less gracefully. Less, in Yang's case, as she had troubles emptying the snow from her pockets, but she literally froze when her fingers posed around the delicate form of the box she was longing to offer.

"Yang, you're okay?"

Of course she had noticed. And now she couldn't chicken out of the situation, or it would be both very awkward at the moment and very shameful to remember. Closing her eyes for a brief second, Yang focused all of her hopes in that particular moment… She got down on one knee, regretting that she was going cliché without a good sentence to present it, and raised her eyes toward Blake while retrieving the box from her pockets. She found it extremely hard to swallow at that particular moment, especially when she saw Blake's surprised – to avoid saying 'confused' – expression.

"I know it's sudden, but I've longed to ask you for a long time now… Blake, you're so wonderful that I couldn't find the right words, and I'd love you until the end of the world if you allowed me to…" Deciding that she was definitely not the one for emotional speeches, she thought that it was better to get to the point before she could drown in her own words. "Blake, will you marry me?"

There were a few blanks seconds, where the world seemed to pause, and Yang's adrenaline and apprehension rocketed before a single tear rolled on Blake's cheek and smile lighted her face.

"Of course I will!" the raven haired said, falling to her knees to hug her blonde of a partner, before adding despite the emotions that were now tying her throat: "You amazing dragon"

* * *

Done! At first I wanted to write Blake acting like a cat in the snow – you know, those thousands of YouTube videos showing you a snowy garden with a cat tail bouncing and running around, while the cat itself is invisible under the snow? – but I thought it would be too cliché. And out of nowhere I wrote a proposal. Human brain is wonderful, making the weirdest decisions and associations…

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and I'll see you tomorrow!


	37. 37 - Eyes

I've started writing this fic in time. Will I post it in time? More, in the next AN!

I know, I know, this is as useless as Yang's right arm, but I just can't bear seeing this disappear. Just like Raven.

Sorry.

(Little warning, this chapter contains trigger for violence. And some swear words.)

* * *

The name of the world was pain.

Everything was black, cold and painful. Everything had turned too fast. She still had troubles understanding what had happened, how everything had slipped into violence.

A while ago, she was peacefully attending a march for Faunuses' right, with her blue White Fang flag, happily discussing with the bull-horned guy at her left. Everything was fine, they weren't even yelling nor disturbing the peace, they had the authorizations, there were even a few humans amongst the protester, all calmly discussing with the others about future, rights and injustice. Of course there were some hateful looks, but most people that had those just changed streets eventually covering their kids eyes.

Everything was good. Until they reached a specific turn, a specific intersection. They came from every other street, cornering them. They all wore black outfits, black hoods, and various weapons that shone discreetly in the setting sun. A few seconds of silence passed, the mood of the protesters rapidly dropping and the tension thickening visibly.

Then all things exploded, as the hooded crowd started to attack. The protestors started running around, searching for the nearest cover, but Blake froze for one too many seconds, still unable to believe the violence that had so suddenly started to rage around, and she fell prey to the masked wrath. But before the crowd could even reach her, one of them throwed a flashbang grenade, and for Blake, the world went completely white, muffled, and incoherent.

Closing her eyes in renewed pain, she shivered in the back alley she had taken cover in, the bruises, cuts and burns all too fresh on her skin for her to support remembering how they were inflicted. The only thing she could think at the time was that humans were racist, violent scums, and that the world was a dark, cold place where all hope of progress was futile. And in the back of her head, a little voice kept worrying about the fact that she still couldn't see, when the awful buzzing of the flashbang had stopped hours ago.

The name of the world was pain. And despair.

"Oh my god, what happened to you?"

A voice, breaking the cold but calm dizziness in which she had sheltered. She almost wanted to push it back, to keep dwelling in her own misery, but she wasn't stupid. She needed help, and it would be foolish to push back someone that seemed genuinely worried. At her own surprise, she managed to muster a small "Help… please…" that in other circumstances, would have made her frown in front of such frail voice and pathetic call. But now was no time to quibble about it.

Biting her lower lip in horror, Yang barely contained a surprised gasp when the street lights finally shone on the girl she had just carried out of the alley. She was covered in blood, her skin was deformed by bruises, bad looking burns and cuts… One of them was dangerously running on her eyes, but perhaps worst than everything… Two bloodied, scorched stubs stood where should probably have been Faunus' ears. Feeling a sudden outburst of nausea for whoever could have done this to another human being, she carefully took the girl in her arms as she had passed out and started walking home.

She felt angry, sick, but most of all ashamed for what other so-called humans had done today, for the sake of stupid, racist thoughts. Clenching her teeth to refrain her anger, she delicately covered the injured stranger with what she could, in this case a bloodied, torn apart flag that had once bored the White Fang's symbol.

* * *

Okay. What happened to me? What happened to the naïve, fluffy me?

No idea, but I hope that was just a weird phase. Hope I didn't disturb you too much, and I'll see you all tomorrow !


	38. 38 - Abandonned

Don't worry! Despite the theme, I'll keep today's fic fluffy and light!

* * *

Everything felt empty, pointless. Sad, amputated and abandoned. Well those three adjectives were for her more than for everything around, but for now, she was good with self-depreciating and bitter irony. Everyone had left her. Raven first, even before she could remember the sound of her voice. Then Summer… though she couldn't really reproach her that she had died on the battlefield. Ruby had left too recently, for a good reason but still it made her heart ache.

And perhaps what hurt her the most… Blake. Blake that had left without explaining why. Blake that had been seen alive, fleeing the fall of Beacon. Blake that despite all her might, she couldn't hate like she had come to despise Raven. Blake, that despite all her might she couldn't stop loving. She closed her eyes to refrain her tears once more, painfully clenching her teeth.

Suddenly, she felt a light pressure on her knees. Thinking that her father had once again come to get her out of her numbness, and perhaps out of her bed, she opened her eyes preparing a death glare. That she immediately refrained when she saw the frail kitten looking at her with curious, widened eyes. A coal black kitten that had jumped on her bed from the window, and the tree nearby. Probably.

Well who was she kidding? That kitten was cute, who cared about how it got there? Slowly, calmly extending her hand toward the small ball of fur, she managed to tam it, or at least pet it a little. Before her father actually entered the room, almost jumping at the sight of the little creature.

"Wow, you seem… peaceful." Taiyang hazarded

"Maybe I'm just out of tears and bitterness" she replied, slowly trailing a finger behind the kitten's ears

"Well you're definitely not out of sarcasm," Tai laughed. "But keep your good mood, you've got a visitor."

Yang's head perked up, having expected anything but a visitor. Well a second visitor, since the kitten had decided to settle on her knees and purr. What surprised her even more was the visitor itself, with her shy entrance and ashamed black cat ears folded down on her skull. Feeling rage starting to boil, Yang would have yelled or thrown her pillow at Blake, just for the sake of expressing her frustration and disbelief at her nerves… but the cute little kitten was almost asleep, and she didn't want to disturb such cute creature. Yeah, it was stupid, but she was used with her incoherent mood swings by now, so she contented herself with a death glare.

"I hope you've got a good alibi." She ended up saying when Blake just stood at the door, awkward as ever.

"I… I do have one…" Blake slowly rose her head, and for the first time their eyes met. Their red, tired of crying eyes. "At the fall of Beacon… the… the weirdo that did this to you…" she breathed deeply, visibly having a hard time saying all of it without running of again. "It was Adam, my ex-partner in the White Fang."

"How does THAT count as an alibi?!" Yang roared, immediately regretting it when she saw both Blake and the kitten shrink in fear. Clenching her teeth, she forced herself to calm down. "Sorry, I interrupted you."

"The thing is… just before you found me, this maniac swore he'd destroy everything I l.. like," she stammered, still unsure of how to react to Yang's outbursts, before pursuing with a frail voice. "Starting with you. So I ran, as soon as you were safe, because I thought that staying with you would be putting you in danger. Because at the time I couldn't think of a better outcome. Because I was so scared and lost that I didn't even imagine how hurtful it would be for you… I'm sorry Yang, for all that I have done to you…"

Somehow, somewhere inside her, something calmed down. Blake hadn't abandoned her, she had made what was at the time the best decision she could. Blake hadn't willingly left her behind. Blake still cared about her, or she wouldn't have come back to her. And with a slightly sad, but above all calm voice, she cracked a wry smile toward her partner.

"You're too late. I've replaced you with this little cutie here" she said pointing to the purring, innocent kitten curled up on her duvet, feeling her smile get a little wider when Blake looked at her with a puzzled look, somewhere between relief and disbelief. Resbelief.

And the second later, she felt her inner flame flicker again, as if making a bad joke, smiling and most of all forgiving had gotten her back to a more alive state.

* * *

Done! And I'm still in time!

I'm pretty proud of what I've done with this one, it's not the most inventive fic of all time but it's cute enough for me. Also yeah, that's what I hoped to happen in Volume 4. Then again, in Volume 5 I really thought for thirty seconds that Yang was chasing after Blake.

(By the way, am I the only one surprised by how easily Yang found Raven? I mean just before volume 1 she was still asking people around with a photo not having or getting any idea on where to search, and then she just get to a bandit camp on another continent as if she had always known that Raven was here? The fuck?)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you tomorrow!


	39. 39 - Dreams

No! I won't let this upper note disappear! I can't!

* * *

The air was soft on this afternoon, a slight breeze playfully wandering in the two women's hair and intertwining their golden and raven hair as their hands were intertwined. Yes, the air was soft on this afternoon and the wind seemed eager to listen to the dreams they shared, simply seated on a bench in a park. Dreams for the future, either unrealistic or serious, either crazed out or rational, either complex or simple, all exchanged with hushed voice that didn't want to disturb the peace. Al around the same topic. All around their future.

Their hypothetic future together, as friends, as partners… as lovers. What could the future hold for them? In this time of confidence and projects, for once they both spoke freely about their farthest ideas and fantasy without being awkward, even laughing about marriage plans. It was nothing too serious, just some ideas thrown here and there, some plans that would perhaps come to reality once the time was right.

Speaking without filters was something new for Blake, as she had always put up a mask whenever she interacted with someone, a mask of cordiality. It was ironic, when she thought about it… She had refused to wear the White Fang's mask, only to replace it with one that was more discreet and more insidious. But for now, she didn't want to think about her past. For now, her eyes trailed on the future while her breath and soul mingled with her partner's.

To Yang, speaking freely wasn't new. In fact, she was quite used to it, as she had troubles figuring why anyone would filter their thought at a point that they would lock themselves in mutism. No, the true novelty of the situation was that she allowed herself to daydream about stupidly cute futures and plans, not even feeling the smallest prick of guilt or awkwardness speaking about marriage with her girlfriend. As slippery and simpleton as the subject was. To speak frantically, she wasn't even sure that the subject really mattered. To her, what had the most chance of staying engraved in her memory were the sound of Blake's voice, the delicate trills of her laughter and the soft feeling of the Faunus' ears flickering against her neck.

At one point, Yang just delicately placed her lips on Blake's forehead, breathing in the soft lavender smell of her shampoo and quieting gradually to simply enjoy this instant. She felt another flicker on her throat, and without even seeing it she knew that Blake was now looking at her curiously. The mere thought of knowing Blake to a point she could tell what she was doing without even seeing it made her smile, her lips still resting against her lover's forehead.

"What's happening?" the raven-haired ended up asking, seemingly puzzled by Yang's sudden silence

"Nothing new," Yang replied, reluctantly increasing the distance between them to actually talk. "I just love you."

Seeing the look of adoration in her partner's eyes, she couldn't help but crack one of her signature puns.

"And maybe the cat got my tongue." She emphasized with a wink, knowing that Blake would pretend hating her pun all the while loving them.

"Nah." Blake's calm, determined smile was unusual after a pun, and perhaps that's why Yang didn't see what was coming next.

The playful tone of that "nah" was soon forgotten when the Faunus' lips came to rest against hers, delicately and passionately deepening both their embrace and kiss in an expression of pure love, which both silently wished to never end. But as they were still living beings that needed to breathe to stay alive, they ended up parting eventually.

"That's how the cat gets your tongue" Blake smiled after a ragged breath, and Yang wondered if it was possible to die of loving.

Her heart, pounding in her chest and alimenting the flame that was her soul, could probably have answered, if it weren't so busy falling over and over for her raven-haired angel.

* * *

Done! Had a little trouble writing this one, as my first idea only made half of the fic… But I got it done anyway. Almost two hours late. Sorry…

But fear not, for tomorrow's theme is already planned!

(Also, little self-promoting in there, perhaps way too early… I've started the creation of a Pokemon / RWBY game, and I intend to basically make a "Pokémon: Grimm Eclipse" – heavy naming skills as always – with a true scenario, height balanced Gym leader, three different white fangs, a side story about maidens and relics, some renowned fakemon and such. For now, I just have a solid base on RPG Maker with a 7G Pokemon Game already implemented and some ideas, but I'll try and make it into a full game.)

Anyway, thanks for reading up to here, and I'll see you tomorrow!


	40. 40 - Sun

I'm running out of ideas on how to keep this AN alive. Anyone has a suggestion?

* * *

"Say Yang, you and Blake are pretty close, right?" Sun said all of the sudden

Him, Yang and Neptune were seated at a sidewalk café, enjoying their drinks and a few treats. Though to anyone knowing them it might have seemed odd, they actually enjoyed reuniting in quiet places as this one, especially when it was too early to meet in a nightclub. Yang took a long sip of her latte macchiato before answering with a tranquil voice.

"Yeah. Why?"

Perhaps Neptune's worried look should have warned her. Perhaps it should have warned Sun. Anyway, none of them caught it, as they were both too busy: Yang with her coffee and elusive pastry that kept slipping out of her grasp, and Sun with the subject he had in mind.

"So, what does she like?" Sun added eagerly, swiftly avoiding the question

"I don't understand." The blondie answered, still a little bit puzzled by Sun's phrasing

"Well I found her really pretty, and I thought you could help me figure out how I could get closer to her," he said with a casual smile

Smile that soon dropped when he saw Yang's ironic grin.

"Let me get this perfectly clear. You're asking me advice to hit on Blake?" Yang's words were calm, chosen, but her even voice was filled with menace.

And perhaps that's what made Sun reconsider his action. That or the fact that her eyes had most certainly turned to crimson by now.

"I said something wrong?" Sun hazarded, slightly shrinking and throwing frequent looks at Neptune, who answered him by a saddened look.

A look that they both knew all to well, which meant that whatever Sun had done, he had to deal with it alone. A look that in the present situation was perhaps the worst he could have. But the monkey's attention came back to Yang when her fist crashed on the table, shaking lightly all of what was on it.

"I'll give you one only advice, and it will be the best you've ever had." Yang's voice paused as small flickers threatened to light up her golden mane and fury alike. "Fuck off."

Those two words were stressed as she was glaring holes through the Faunus that was now frantically hesitating between staying to maybe solve the misunderstanding and run now as fast and far as he could, to salvage what would remain of him. The latter would have been wisest, but he waited one too many seconds to have any chance if he started fleeing now. So he stayed still, hoping that he would get an explanation on what had lighted Yang's wrath, aside from his request that was globally innocent…

"I'll make it simple for you," Yang said with a prick of disdain, crossing her legs. "You mongrel don't have any chance with her, and that for two simple reasons. First," she interrupted herself to take a sip of coffee, willingly increasing Sun's nervousness. "She's not into boys."

With a satisfied smile, she saw the monkey's expression shift to surprised, and decided to keep hammering.

"Second, she's taken." Seeing the monkey's jaw quite literally drop, she put back her cup on the table, finally realizing that she had been perhaps a little too aggressive. And possessive. "So, do I have your word that you won't try to hit on my girlfriend now?" She ended on a more peaceful tone, though Sun still seemed stunned from the overload of information he had just received.

"Your… girlfriend?" Sun stuttered, completely lost. "You're… together? I'm sorry, I didn't know. Of course I won't hit on your girlfriend! Neptune! Why didn't you tell me?" he suddenly railed, turning to the blue haired boy as if everything was his and his fault alone

"I tried. You never listen." Neptune simply shrugged

They all laughed to Sun's antics, and the incident was soon forgotten… Though the monkey had learned his lesson.

* * *

Done! Not much to say on this one, I just wanted to see Bumblebee literally win over BlackSun. I know I know, that's just shippers' dreams, but hey, if you're still here I guess you like Bumbleby as much as I do, right?

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you tomorrow!


	41. 41 - Mist

First, thank you deathgundam006 for your suggestion! But I'm afraid random thoughts would be too random, so how about things related to today's theme?

I have to admit, "Mist" is a tough one to write on… But there'll be worse in the future, and I think there's been worst in the past. Seriously, each time I look at the number of chapters I've written, I'm shocked by how much I've written and how much is left…

* * *

"I think I'll head home now," Yang stuttered while trying to stand up – and failing miserably, the alcohol finally taking its toll on her.

Blake, as the barmaid, kept a discreet but vigilant eye over the blondie as she had been requested to do so by their common friend, Sun. It was easier said than done, since the girl seemed hot-tempered and hot-headed. And that was not considering the consequent amount of people trying to hit on her, that she was trying to hit back – something about calling her sweetheart that drove her mad, from what Blake had understood.

And now she wanted to drive home. Luckily for her, Sun had left her motorcycle keys under Blake's vigilant watch when he had walked out of the nightclub earlier in the arms of a blue-haired companion. She wouldn't kill herself on the road tonight, not if Blake could prevent this.

"Where did I put my keys?" she suddenly realized, searching all of her pockets

"I've got them." Blake stated, jingling the set of key fir the blondie to see. "And you won't drive tonight. You're way too drunk."

Frowning, Yang tried to process what had just been said. Sure, she had drunk a bit more than her usual, but she still had her mind clear! At least that's what she thought until she tried to form a coherent phrase.

"Why do you do this? I'm not as think as you drunk I am…"

When the words got out of her mouth, she knew she had made a mistake, and proven her right. "Okay, I admit. I might have drunk too much." Keeping her sentences short, she let herself fall on a barstool, knowing that she would have to comply with the barmaid's request.

"Might? After all you got, I'm surprised you're still standing at all!" Blake laughed while she served another customer.

"I can hold my drink." The blondie shrugged, before falling in a resigned silence

For a little while, she kept silent. Then she started to get bored, and as she was stuck here by the barmaid's will, she decided to engage the conversation again.

"Sun asked you to do it?" she suddenly prompted, fed up with spinning her empty glass on the countertop.

"Yeah, how did you guess?" Blake answered, for once pleased to have some company.

"Saw you two discuss earlier. Even don't know your name."

"It's Blake." She smiled, surprised that even in such state, her – forced – companion still had a sense of decorum. "Yours is Yang, right?" as nothing but a nod answered, she pursued. "So, what brings you in such place?"

"Whaddya mean, in a nightclub? Or in a gay nightclub?"

"Well I guess both…?" Blake hazarded, surprised by the question.

"I'm in a nightclub 'cause Sun and I wanted to hand out. I'm in this nightclub 'cause Sun knows the place and think it's great. Also, because I might have mentioned that I am bi." The blondie shrugged, as to show how little consideration she gave to the circumstances of her arrival.

As they kept discussing, Blake found out that holding a stable conversation with a drunk was harder than she would have thought, and also that Yang had an endless supply of lame pun and funny jokes, as well as some interesting point of views. Time fled by, and as the closing hour stroke she had an idea to maybe see the blondie in a sober state.

"I still can't let you drive home," she said while putting on her coat. In the wee hours of the morning, the wind was stingy and cold.

"But…?" Yang replied, having realized that she was about to suggest something else.

"How about I drive you home, and tomorrow when you're sober you give me a call, so I can bring you back to your bike?"

"Sounds good to me. Will have to remember though…"

So she drove her home, and after making sure that she had reached her apartment and left a sticky note with her name and number on the fridge, she surprised herself to smile into nothing. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that the odds were slim and perhaps in her favor, but there was someone she knew had planned all of this. Sun.

* * *

So… I know it's really far-fetched and might seem not linked at all to the theme, but I swear it is! It comes from a French expression, "brume alcoolisée" (alcohol mist) which basically means that your brain and judgment is clouded with alcohol. And don't forget, alcohol can be addictive and dangerous, careful if you go around it. How about some review answering?

SomeRandoFromTX: Glad to see you're back! Also yeah, I try to be eclectic in my subjects of writing…. Think you've noticed x) And your writing ideas are quite interesting, I'll definitely write them as a bonus! (cause the 100 themes are predetermined, found them on the internet.) As always, thank you for your kind review, I'm glad you liked the plain and cute sharing-caring part of these :)

Anyways, thank you for reading, and I'll see you tomorrow !


	42. 42 - Motherhood

So, motherhood. At first I was thinking about something plain and classic, about writing on Blake and Yang's daily struggle to raise a child… And then, my beta-reader popped up and gave me another idea. Just so you know, that guy is the one that reads everything I write despite the fact that I almost always finish it in the wee hours of the morning. So yeah, shout out to you Rodin!

Oh and also… This chapter will be tougher than the usual. You're warned. And there are some swear words too.

* * *

The sun had set for a good two hours, and Yang was trying to cook something that would at least seem edible, when the doorbell to her apartment rang. She wasn't expecting anyone, so she was a bit surprised, but she got to her interphone nonetheless, deciding that her lame attempt at cooking would have to wait.

When the video finally connected to allow her to see who was ringing her that late, she saw something that broke her heart almost immediately. It was Blake, shaking in the night breeze and barely holding a bag that seemed to contain some if not all of her possessions. And she was barely holding in a flow of tears that had already left its traces on her cheeks and usually so radiant eyes. Before she could even find the strength to say anything, Yang pushed on the button to open the door.

"Come on, get in. We'll discuss once you're sheltered from the cold," Yang managed to say, feeling her heart tear a little more when she saw the mix of hope and despair shining in the Faunus' eyes.

Seeing her like that reminded Yang of bad memories. Memories of the numerous time she had housed her friend because of her abusive boyfriend. Of the numerous times she had tried to convince her to dump him. Of the numerous time her heart had been severed by seeing how an asshole could win Blake's heart, when she had always felt too shy to admit her feelings. Taking a quick second to steel her feelings, she then went on with boiling some water for Blake. Now wasn't the time to complain about how unjust her situation was. Now was the time to help her friend as best as she could.

A light knock sounded a few minutes later, and Yang opened her door only to see that the interphone's camera, with its poor quality, had camouflaged most of the distress emanating from Blake as well as the reddened mark on her right arm.

"It's him again, ain't it?" Yang said, having a hard time not letting her voice trail out.

As nothing but a nod answered her, she took a step closer to Blake and wrapped her arms around the now frail woman not knowing how to convey all of her support in any other way. For a few minutes, Blake just cried in her shoulder and she tried to comfort her as best as she could, still in the doorway. Then at some point, Blake ran out of tears and Yang guided her to a chair in the living room / kitchen combo and put a cup of cardamom tea in front of her.

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay." The blondie said before taking a seat in front of Blake. "And if you need a place to stay for a few days, you know you can stay here."

She wished that she could say she wasn't expecting it… but it was false. Adam was too much of an asshole, and their relation was too toxic to think these kinds of things wouldn't happen again. Thinking about him enraged Yang, and when she felt that her eyes were ready to turn to crimson, she decided to focus on the situation at hand instead of how she could make him eat his own guts.

"Thank you Yang… You're a lifesaver." Blake said, finally raising her eyes from the bottomless depth of her tea.

"I try my best" Yang replied with a small, sad smile

"I think you have the right to know what happened… It's the least I can do for you," the raven-haired added hesitantly, her hands curled around the cup in search of warmth.

With anyone else, Yang would have insisted upon the fact that they weren't forced to speak, that she was fine with not knowing… But she knew that Blake was just bribing some time to choose her words, and that whatever Yang would say, she would end up spilling everything. So the blondie kept quiet, barely nodding to encourage her.

"We had an argument. I'm used to that by now, but it heated up quite fast… I was thinking about running out until the storm calmed when… when…" she painfully closed her eyes, taking in a raspy breath before finding the strength to pursue. "He threw me out. Said he'd never want to see me again."

"Hey, hey it's okay," Yang soothed. "You already know what I think of him and what he says…. Don't let him get to you okay? You're wonderful, and if he can't see it, then his loss. Now, chin up and tell me what stupid pretext he took to throw you out?" By now, she was barely containing the mix of rage and disgust she felt toward that so-called 'man'.

"I…" Blake's voice broke, and she lowered her head in shame.

"Hey, it's okay. You know you can tell me everything." Yang comforted, feeling like her 'do not be ashamed speech would have to wait.

"I got pregnant…"

It took Yang a few seconds to realize the depths of that sentence, to take in the information and link all the consequences. The first of them being that her anger got out of control, making her suddenly stand with her hands violently placed on the wooden table.

"You're telling me that this motherfucker threw you out because HE couldn't take HIS RESPONSIBILITIES?!" As Blake was staring at her like a deer in the headlights, she sat back before pursuing on a calmer tone. "Sorry. But I truly think what I said… That jerk is just a coward."

Sighing deeply, she thought that they were both way too tired to discuss it any further, and as Blake was finishing the last sip of her tea, she shrugged.

"We do as usual. I'll sleep on the couch until everything is sorted, okay?" – a tired, emotionally exhausted nod – "You can stay as long as you want. We'll figure something out."

She got up and around the table to hug Blake, before both of them went to sleep, Yang retrieving a spare pillow and cover in her closet. Like the tea, she had spared it for times of need, knowing that one time or another Blake could crash at her home. Finally closing her eyes, she found sleep when she thought that for once, maybe Blake wouldn't get back with this asshole. And that was the best new of the evening.

* * *

Wow, I wrote a lot! Despite the sad vibes of this, I'm pretty satisfied with what I wrote. Hope you enjoyed it too, even if it wasn't the lightest of fics…

Anyways, I'll see you all tomorrow !


	43. 43 - Dying

Do I really need to tell you that this chapter will be dark? Actually, we're lucky that my beta reader (yeah, him again) gave me a 'lighter' idea than to make them go full kamikaze on Salem. Well not saying anything more… Hang in there, tomorrow should be lighter.

* * *

Pausing a second in her task to take back her breath, Yang sighed deeply. Life had lost its meaning now… She wasn't living, just barely surviving. She often wondered if it was worth the shot, to keep fighting and try to be happy when everything had gone extinct around her. She felt her heart tighten in her chest when she thought about her Rubbles, lost on the battlefields a few years ago. Perhaps it was around this time when she had lost all hope…

Emerald had ended up getting the upper hand on the small redhead… And even once Yang had punched her six feet under, her soul still felt empty. Even more empty, as there wasn't any anger left to fill the void of her sister's death. She still didn't know how Weiss could stand up and fight after all that had happened. How she could try to salvage what remained of the world from Salem's claws. They had all lost so much for this stupid cause…

Wiping the sweat off her brows and supporting herself on the axe she used to cut some wood, she couldn't help but think about all they had lost… Penny, Pyrrha, Ruby, Ren and half of beacon students had lost their lives. Nora had lost her sanity and had been seen rampaging some Grimms toward Salem's estimated position for the last time. Weiss, Jaune, Sun and Oscar had lost their innocence and were engaged in a vain fight against destruction, without even mentioning the various friends and body part they had left on the battlefield. Blake and her… had lost all family and hope, both preferring to run far from anything before the pain could become anymore unbearable.

At least there was a small prick of light in all of that darkness. They were together, through everything and everything. And even if they had given up on defending the worlds, given up on their dreams of fairytale ending, they still stood up together. Many others didn't have that chance. Shaking her head to get rid of these Grimm-attracting thoughts, her metallic arm tightened its grip on the axe's handle, and she steadied herself by making sure her prosthetic leg was anchored to the ground. Life was hard, especially with the cold threatening to rust her replacement limbs, but she still had it and she would never complain about it.

It was one of the only things that kept her out of the dark. The will to survive, to keep her promises. Even if she had left the battlefields, she had swore that she would survive, and she intended to do so until the world came to an end, would it be for Ruby, Taiyang and Qrow's memories or for Blake, that almost couldn't leave their improvised home… Transferring the wood she had chopped down for the last hour on her sleigh, she started heading home, still feeling a small twinge at her heart when she thought for the millionth time that Blake should have been able to be with her.

That a wound afflicted by Adam's sword years ago shouldn't have infected and damaged her lungs to the point she had to be on life support constantly. To the point the smallest of efforts exhausted her and took her breath away. To the point that the smallest of allergies could be deadly. She couldn't even use her semblance properly anymore, as she moved too slow to avoid being caught in her own shadows clones…

Still she had insisted upon training herself, until she was able to take down or at least resist most of the numerous Grimms lurking around, all of that with the least movements and efforts. To Yang, it was truly admirable how she had not given up everything, even if Gambol Shroud was now rusting and accumulating dust in a closet.

When she finally got home, the first thing she did was to enter the house and hug Blake, as they had become accustomed to. It was a way for them to tell each other that they were back, that they had both survived another day. And even if the entire world around them was going down in flames, they were here, together. And as happy as the times allowed them to.

* * *

Okay. That was tough to write… Yeah because I put myself in the feelings of the character I write… I can tell you that right now, by breath is ragged and there are tears threatening to fall… That should pass in a moment. But I'm not sure anymore which would have been worse, a last kamikaze mission against Salem or this…. How about I answer review to clear my mind?

SomeRandoFromTX (or a very good imitator): Well yeah, I warned… I'm not used to write things that dark because to me, writing and reading is an escape from reality, and we don't need any more despair in our already sad world. But sometimes it helps convey more feelings. And I'd really like some prompts and ideas, but I can't guarantee you that I'll write on them.

Okay, this is done… Freaking late oh my god! I'm writing today's chapter ASAP, promise.


	44. 44 - Two roads

So it's me again. Today's theme wasn't the easiest to write on, and my beta reader and I struggled to find and idea… It's lighter than the two previous fics, but not completely bright and fluffy, so yeah, expect something casual with a little bit of dark in it.

* * *

Popping her spine back in place, Yang readied herself for the night. She knew that today was going to be especially sportive, since she had finally found the trail of the burglar that had taken a vile pleasure by teasing the police during the last months. Now all that was left to do was to catch him, even if that was easier said then done, Yang wasn't afraid. The only thing she saw was the promotion she could get by catching the thief, and a promotion in the police meant both reputation and income increased.

The reputation didn't really matter to her, growing up as a street urchin quickly erases all dreams of celebrity from your head… The income on the other hand, would allow her to give a little more to the orphanage monthly, and that was a definite plus. She saw it a as a way to repay the orphanage for what it had done for her - allowing her to go to the police academy and giving her a decent life out of the streets – and to help other children to get out of the streets. To her it was a civic act, helping those in need and preventing gangs to find new recruits amongst the desperate… But now wasn't the time to rant about her political opinions. She had waited around that building for hours now, since the sun had set, with casual clothes that would allow her to run and her badge hidden in one of her back pockets, but so far nothing had moved. Though she was sure the burglar was going to strike today, and that building precisely, if he stayed close to his usual modus operandi.

Thinking about his past strikes and the global plan she had guessed in it, she nearly missed the shadowy silhouette that suddenly rushed from the tree's cover toward the building, soaring toward one side of it almost without impetus and catching the metal railing of the fire exit. Then the shadow pulled itself safe on the metal platform that stood a good eight feet above the ground, leaving behind just a distant sound of shaken metal.

Picking up her jaw on the ground, Yang shook herself back to action and started running toward the thief, quickly analyzing the surroundings to find another way up. She spotted an anti-crash post and decided that it was her best chance. Crossing her fingers, she directed her run toward it, placed her feet atop of it with difficulty, and then used both her momentum and the sudden height boost to reach the same fire exit, landing much less gracefully on the platform. Cursing herself for the noise she had made, she quickly noticed the only open window and got through it, only to find herself face to face with the thief.

Instinctively, she placed herself in-between the window and her opponent and reached at her waist to call reinforcement, barely noticing the feminine and shocked allure of the burglar. It's when her hand hovered over nothing that she realized she had left her uniform at home, and that meant her usual gear too. No talkie, no reinforcements. Realizing why the woman in front of her seemed so surprised – after all a civilian had just pursued her – she morphed her gesture to grab her badge in her back pocket.

"Vale Police Department. Hands on your head and don't move." She exclaimed, pointing her metallic plate.

She saw the thief's eyes widen in surprise and realization despite the black hood covering her face entirely, before said thief slowly put down the bag she was holding and slowly put her hands on her head. Carefully, Yang moved closer and retrieved the handcuffs – only part of gear she had kept, knowing that she might have to arrest someone on the go – before locking them on the criminal. Once she was sure they were securely attached behind her back, the police officer went on with taking off the hood as to know who it might be.

The piece of black clothing fell to the ground, and so did Yang's jaw when she saw one of her childhood friends, guilt crawling all over her face. Blake and she had grown up together in the streets, but they had been separated when Yang had joined the orphanage…. So that's what she had become.

"Blake…?" she said hesitantly, wanting to confirm her doubts.

"I'm sorry."

Yang didn't have the time to ask why she was sorry, she received a fierce headbutt and fell on the ground almost unconscious. During the time it took her to actually get up, Blake had stolen her keys and left, almost not disturbed by the fact her hands were still attached in her back. Growling, Yang took the time to reassure the apartment owners, and despite the fact that she had let the thief slip between her fingers, she was warmly thanked for preventing the robbery. After all, the bag of belongings was still on the ground. Giving back what the victims owned, she kept the bag and the other properties that were in there. It was like starting all over again, now that she knew Blake would stay quiet for at least five months…

Though she ended up finding her a lot sooner than she expected. One day, after working later than usual, she went to the orphanage as she did almost every evening… But this time, there was someone else. Someone raven-haired, wearing a coal bow. Someone that was discussing with the orphanage's owner in hushed voice. When she got closer, Yang confirmed her suspicions on that someone's identity… And she also learnt the reason of her presence here.

"Here, that's this month's income. I hope it will help you" Blake said slowly, putting a cheque in the other's hand

"Blake, I can't accept this. I know what you do for a living." The other answered, trying to give it back

"We already discussed it. This is the money I earn by working all day in that crappy restaurant, its perfectly legal. How I keep myself fed is another story."

"I can't let you flirt with legality again and again just because you spend your paycheck for us…"

Biting her lower lip, Yang came out of the shadows after a long hesitation. She knew Blake would most certainly run as soon as she would see her, but she had to try. Somehow, deep inside herself, she knew there was still hope for her childhood friend. That there was a way to pull her from the shadows.

"Blake?"

As planned, she turned and started running… But Yang wouldn't let her go this time. Ignoring the shocked look on the only witness' face, she rand like her life depended on it, sparing a few breaths to try reassuring Blake. She didn't intend on arresting her… She wanted to help her. With all her might, she ran after her hoping that it wasn't too late. That their paths hadn't diverged too much.

* * *

Done! For those of you wondering what's the link between the fic and the theme, it's because Yang and Blake have taken two different roads to get out of the streets, two roads that are closely intertwined but meant to stay adverse. Late again... Sorry lately I've got a lot of things going on since I'm moving overseas in about two weeks.

While I'm at it, I might pause this challenge for a while around September 11th, to take my time to get used to my new place and school and stuff. And yeah, I'm flying on September 11th, not ironic at all. Not like it was double ironic because I was born literally one day before the towers fell…

Anyway, hope you liked it and I'll see you later if everything's going alright!


	45. 45 - Animal

So today I hesitated a bit, and inspired myself from a few different stories : first of all, the Guardian AU (I don't know who actually started it, but you can find a lot of fanart of it just by googling the name) then some mangas like Blue Exorcist or Servamp. Anyway, I won't keep you any longer.

* * *

For now, there was one and only thing roaming in Blake's mind: escape. And not far behind was 'survive'. Which, considering her present state, was almost vain… Barely holding up, a hand pressed against the bloodied wound on her waist, she made a desperate move. Clenching her teeth to fight against the pain, she morphed into her camouflage form and painfully landed on all four. Now that she was a cat she couldn't prevent the blood from bolting out of her wounds, but she was faster… And she could venture in the human territories.

It was a desperate move, but perhaps if she reached the human city, Adam would abandon the pursuit. Perhaps she could survive a little while in there, cross the city and morph back in another territory. That made a lot of perhaps for her life to depend on, but for now it was her best hope.

Just as planned, Adam significantly slowed down when she approached the fence of a square. He knew the rules… None of them could go into the human territories without being morphed. And if a cat could easily slip in-between the steel and glass buildings, a bull would have much more trouble staying out of trouble. Smiling, she used her agility to get past the fence, and began slowing down once she was through. What she hadn't planned was that the blood loss would make little black spot dance before her eyes while she reached the dirt path… Nor that she would black out in the middle of it.

-_-_- Timeskip! -_-_-

When she opened her eyes again, she was certain that she would have passed out. That she would wake up in whatever place was supposed to house the dead… But a sharp pain in her side informed her that she was still alive. Painfully alive. Unable to contain her pain anymore, she groaned… And through the white blur of her senses, she was surprised to hear herself weakly meowing. That's when everything came back to her: the pursuit, the wrath in Adam's eyes, her decision to morph and enter an unknown territory… She needed to get up and leave, fast. Before a human could find her.

When she felt a soft blanket under her paws, she knew it was too late. She had been picked up by a human, and if she related to the bandages on her side, healed. At least she seemed to have been rescued by someone caring… But that didn't help with the fact that she was now probably trapped in a house. As her senses came back to her, she finally saw the human that had probably rescued her: it was a tall, blonde woman that was currently staring at her careful attempts to get up.

"Hey, hey careful. Don't move too much, you'll hurt yourself."

Sighing, Blake had to admit that this human was right, and forced herself to lay down, which only brought a surprised smile to the human's face.

"Hey, it's almost like you understand what I say!"

She now had a furious urge to morph and show her that indeed, she was understanding. In spite, she shot a desperate glare at her and meowed, knowing that it was the most she could do in such state.

"Got a little temper, I see… Well in case you truly understand, my name's Yang. I gotta go working, so behave yourself okay? I'll be back in a flash." She added with a smile, delicately petting what she thought to be cat ears before getting up and leaving.

For once, Blake didn't know how to feel. On one side, she felt humiliated, treated like a mere street cat… On the other side, she actually was just a street cat, and the care visible in her savior eye's was flattering. Not finding an answer, she ended up falling back to sleep on the soft blanket that had been placed under her.

-_-_- Timeskip! -_-_-

How long has it been, since she had been rescued? As days flew by, she started to forget… And she understood why the human's territories were dangerous. They weren't all that physically dangerous, but they were a serious threat to her humanity. She surprised herself acting and thinking like a cat more and more often as she kept her morph, feeling the urge to leave this place fading away even though her wound was healing properly, and she would have had no trouble leaving definitely.

But she couldn't bring herself to leave, and deep inside herself she knew it has everything to do with Yang. She was careful, loving, and seemed to really enjoy her company would that be when Blake jumped on her desk to stare at her work curiously or when she welcomed her home with a slight meowing… And truth be told, Blake had bonded with the energic blonde too. Who was she kidding? She had probably fell in love with her by now, seeing how she didn't want to leave and how most of her days were spent wondering when the blondie would come home…

That's it. She had thought it, admitted it. She was falling for her savior. And it hurt like hell to know that she was completely stupid to allow herself such feelings. She was just a cat to her… Revealing her Faunus nature would be stupid, against the laws and would probably shock her beyond words. Though when Yang came back from work this evening, she knew she couldn't hold it in any longer. She knew that she had to try, or she would regret it all of her life. So she sat in the middle of the bedroom, where her savior was busying herself on her desk, and meowed until she got her attention.

"Hey, what's happening to you today?" the blondie asked, no longer ashamed to speak to her cat as she would to a human. "You seem so serious. Anything you want to confess?" she joked with a small laugh.

Blake took a deep breath and a second to engrave in her memories the caring look that Yang posed on her. Before it had to change forever. Then she morphed back into human form, her waist still sensitive enough to draw a frown, and waited for the reaction. Which didn't take long to happen.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" came Yang's shrieking, shocked voice. And that was completely understandable, since where her cat had once stood was now a full-grown woman with cat ears and tail.

"Please don't yell, I can explain everything..." Blake winced, having expected the reaction but not the tear in her heart that had resulted from it.

"What the fuck?" Yang repeated in a much more hushed tone, still shocked.

"First… I'm sorry that I kept this from you all along… I was scared of how you would react.."

"Okay, that's it. I've gone insane. I should have listened to Ruby and got out more." Yang then said, completely ignoring Blake's words and talking about her own lack of sanity with a dead-serious face.

"You're not insane" Blake's attempt was cut short by Yang's ironic reply

"Oh yeah of course, I'm sitting here alone in my apartment, talking to my cat that just became a human being under my eyes. Perfectly sane!"

"Actually, I'm not human. I'm a Faunus. I'm not sure you've heard of us… We're mostly avoiding humans, because we're different." Blake attempted again, this time with much more success.

"Everyone has heard the stories of metamorphose… But they're stories! They're not supposed to be true…"

And with that first doubt, Blake saw an opportunity to explain everything, which she did to an astounded – but surprisingly open minded – Yang.

A few hours later, Blake was out of breath but not in an asylum or an experiment lab, which was a good sign.

"So that Adam guy tried to kill you because you rejected his advances, and you ended up passing out on the path I found you"

"Yeah, that's about it…" Blake didn't know what to say more.

"I appreciate that you wanted to be honest with me, truly, but I have to admit that's a lot to take in. Especially knowing that you've slept on my covers…" the blondie winked, making Blake blush fiercer than ever. "But once I'll be done with processing all of that life-changing information, what are we going to do?"

That was a good question, to which Blake didn't have an answer.

"Honestly, I don't know. I'll probably never be safe back in the wild, but I can't keep imposing myself on you…"

"Who said you were imposing? When I decided to rescue and adopt you, I accepted responsibilities. And even if at the time I didn't know you were a… how do you say it? Faunus? Well even if I didn't know you were a Faunus, I knew you were a living being with feelings."

Blake gave her a puzzled look, not knowing what the point of such demonstration was.

"I'm trying to say that you can stay as long as you want." Yang shrugged.

Hardly believing her rather powerful ears, Blake struggled to find the words that would express how thankful she was. Ranking her mind and still finding nothing, she gave up words and hugged Yang tightly.

* * *

Done! Wrote a lot, and finally wrote something light and fluffy!

Anyways, hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you tomorrow!


	46. 46 - Male

Okay, I'm not gonna lie, when I first read today's theme… My brain went crazy. Said some nice things like "How the f*ck do you want me to f*cking write on Male when I'm supposed to write a lesbian ship?!" – yeah, my brain tends to curse a lot… - and I had to find something to calm it down. Trust me, it's easier said then done…

* * *

Masked balls… One of Yang's least favorite activities. But today, she was kinda forced, since her sister had insisted on her presence. And she could understand why Ruby would want a familiar face – or in this case a familiar mane of blond hair – in this crowd of masked strangers. Especially since those masked strangers were mostly of Weiss' entourage, meaning that they were mostly rich and disdainful people.

Her back resting on one of the walls closest to the bar and slowly drinking gaseous water, she was comforting herself by thinking that at least Ruby was having fun. Or at least she seemed to, spinning and twirling in her girlfriend's arm near the center of the dancefloor… If only they served something else than water and non-alcoholic cocktails, Yang could at least have a little fun, but she was stuck with her sober self, and the pompous attempt to drag her on the dancefloor that a few men had pushed on her. In any other case she would have gladly accepted, but those guys creeped her out with their mannerisms and chastised language, to a point she thought that tonight wouldn't be of any fun to her.

That's until anther man approached her, standing out of the white crowd with his black suit and mask, but mostly by his nonchalant, casual attitude.

"What does a beautiful girl like you do here all alone?" he started slowly

"Oh, you know, drinking water, waiting for the time to pass until I'm allowed to leave." Came Yang's bitter answer, meant to push him back… and failing miserably as he just laughed

"What are you, a kind of reversed Cinderella?" he teased with a smile. "Or someone too sober to endure those old guys ranting?"

"Wow, someone who do have a sense of humor! Call the ghostbusters, I think I've found something paranormal," Yang replied with a smirk, finally enjoying something in that otherwise boring evening

"Surprised to see a ghost when you're surrounded by mummies? I have to admit it's unusual."

"You do have a point." Yang conceded with a serious face, a few seconds before breaking up in laughter. "And how did a young man such as yourself end up in an old-fashioned meeting like this one?"

"I happen to have known miss Schnee for a long time now… And since we're in an old-fashioned meeting, may I have this dance milady?" he accompanied his saying with an exaggerated curtsy

Still smiling, Yang abandoned her half empty glass on the countertop before seizing the hand that was extended toward her.

"With pleasure."

They spent the next minutes dancing, but mostly discussing, ignoring the outraged looks of the surrounding dancers as they made small talk. More than once, Yang tried to learn the man's identity, only to be met with a smooth diversion. Though something bugged her, something that seemed out of place despite the fact that she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Before she could find it, the music stopped, and each dancer did the same, all heads turning to the massive clock that was suspended in the hall. Seeing the pointers closing to midnight, she suddenly remembered another stupid tradition of masked ball: they all had to unmask at midnight. But for once, this tradition arranged her, since she would finally know who was the sharp-minded man that had gotten her out of her solitude. What she wasn't expecting though was the sudden -and perhaps hurried by the clock – question of said men.

"May I see you again?"

"What do you mean, like a date?" yang laughed, not expecting the answer to be affirmative.

Truth be told, it was quite bold from a masked stranger to ask her out, especially when none of them knew the other's name… Nor what they actually looked like, their mask effectively concealing their identity.

"I'm sorry but you're not exactly my type…" she said with an awkward smile. "Well you would have been, if you weren't of the male category" she added, with an as awkward laugh, sincerely oping that she hadn't hurt him.

That's the precise moment the clock chooses to ring midnight, the entire crowd cheering and throwing their masks away, while yang just calmly removed hers. The first thing she noticed was that the stranger hadn't taken off his mask yet. The second was that he was displaying a huge smile, which was quite odd seeing that she had just refused his advances.

"I know it might seem weird, but I'm actually quite glad you said that." The man added, his hand hovering his mask before taking it off entirely. "Because I'm not exactly 'of the male category'…" she added slowly, her smile still radiant but her voice a little more feminine as the mask wasn't giving it metallic artefacts anymore

That's about when Yang's brain stopped working, the only rational thought circling again and again in her head being "Now I know what seemed odd".

"The name's Blake, by the way. Blake Belladonna." Once again that parodied curtsy, this time accompanied by a satisfied smile.

"I'm Yang Xiao Long. Congratulations on blowing my mind, I truly didn't see it coming" Yang replied, knowing that admitting her defeat was probably the only coherent thing she could express at the moment.

"So, about my proposition?"

Smiling, Yang decided to give it a shot. Now, she wouldn't be able to say in all honesty that masked balls were completely boring. This one had proven itself to be surprising, if not interesting.

* * *

Late again, but not that much. Quite satisfied with this one, even if I had trouble deciding of the end. It ain't the best of fics I've written, but regarding the theme… I think I handled it pretty welL. Let's answer to reviews !

SomeRandoFromTX: I just said that because your last comment was made with "Guest" as a pseudonym, not SomeRandoFromTX as you use to. I don't think there's anyone one actually copying you or anything. And thanks for the kind review, it's always nice! Also yeah, having a bit of a down period in terms of creativity actually, so I'm not entirely satisfied of my latest fics. I feel like they all lack developpement, but I'm not really motivated to write more, so...  
And as for the list, well I can tell you what the next theme are going to be : Mansion, CHildhood, Stripes and Proud. (Well for the last one I have a few ideas, as it'll mark the half of the challenge... But any prompt on 'Stripes' will be greatly appreciated. Seriously I have no idea what I'm going to write for this one XD

Anyways, hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you tomorrow!


	47. 47 - Mansion

I'm back from the dead guys ! I know it has been a while since I last posted a chapter over here, but I have a very good reason… A lot has happened. First of all, I moved and now that mother gave me an apartment, the Me is free! Second, I've started school again and I'm really having fun at it (game design and programming). Which brings me to third : I have way less time than before, that's why I'll start publishing again, but only once a week. RIP the daily challenge, but it doesn't really matter, You'll have your hundred Bumblebees, and perhaps even more!

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Blake asked, visibly taken aback by the creepy creaky looks of the building towering them.

Yang, in the meantime, beamed with joy and excitement as they were approaching the so-called 'Haunted Mansion' standing at the end of a partially hidden dirt path. They had been selected by lot on the internet to be amongst the first to experience what this mansion had to offer, in terms of horror and surprise. And that of course ravished Yang, as she was always up to a challenge, and that's why she felt so confident in the moment.

"C'mon Blakey! Everything here is fake, we're doing a test-run! It's just like we went to a fair, except this time it's free!" she smiled, amused by Blake's sudden hesitation.

She was still surprised at how, despite practicing several martial art and having a daily training with cold steel to be as accurate as humanly possible in the stories she wrote, Blake still felt unsure about a fake haunted house. Some might have found this incredibly dumb, while she just thought it was cute. Plus, she would never complain about having a reason to hold her close.

"If you say so…" Blake slowly admitted, her cat ears flat against her skull.

They finally arrived at the doorstep, hesitantly looking through the dusted windows when they saw no one coming, before Yang got bored and decided to try out the doorknob. At her surprise, it clenched easily, and the door opened itself slowly, creaking as if a dozen tortured souls were trying to escape.

"Well, I guess we've already started our test." Yang shrugged off the feeling of uneasiness, instead turning to her girlfriend and waggling her eyebrows to emphasize her next joke. "What is it? You're pale, as if you'd seen a ghost?"

Blake frowned at her for the lame attempt that couldn't even be called a joke anymore, but before she could say anything Yang came back for another strike.

"Don't tell me that you're superstitious, scaredy cat?" She added, her eyebrows still skittering and the glimpse in her eyes betraying her pride at the lame joke.

"That's it. If you're so courageous, then go ahead, lead the way. You wouldn't want your scaredy cat to get a heart attack, would you? " she smirked, knowing full well that the blondie would end up regretting it.

But for now, Yang decided to play the knight in shining armor, leading the way and comically aiming at everything with her finger gun. Though even if she played it cool, something started to get on her nerves. She felt… followed. And she didn't like it at all.

Of course she knew being scared was the point of this dusty, rusted house… But she was expecting disguised people to jump at them, trying to surprise the fear out of their heart. Not an empty house with an overwhelming impression of not being alone. She kept her joyous, babbling façade anyway, until she saw something actually move out of the corner of her eyes.

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face the painting silently hanging on the wall, as fear crept its way through her heart. There were eyes here. Alive, moving eyes fixed upon them. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn that the pristine lady on the painting was observing them, making fun of them.

Then a loud sound resonated in the room, having Blake suddenly turn toward the incriminated painting… But the eyes were gone. In their place only stood a perforated painting and a wooden plank, probably designed to cover a peephole. And that somehow, chilled the blondie to the core.

"What happened?" Blake flatly said, seemingly not impressed at all. Of course she wasn't impressed ! She hadn't seen those eyes…

"We're watched…" Yang murmured, now finding it very difficult to tear her eyes from the void beneath the canvas.

"Who's the scaredy cat now?" Blake purred, apparently immensely enjoying the situation.

That was until her ears started twitching lightly, catching up a faint melody and silencing her as efficiently as a gag. Her brows furrowed as she focused all of her might to try and recognize the song, while the tip of her left ear kept twitching in a subtle display of both her nervousness and irritation. Without saying anything more, she departed toward the sound relying only on her senses – and hoping that Yang would follow not too far behind. Getting separated would be a really bad idea, but something bugged her with this sound, something altogether familiar and alien.

Speeding her way through the decrepit hallways, she jumped when a loud thud resonated behind her. Turning violently, her eyes widened in horror when she realized the worst had happened. A wall had just slammed itself shut between her and Yang, and despite watching intently she found no trace of the corridor she had just crossed. It was as if she had suddenly turned crazy, as if there never was a hallway to begin with, though she was sure she had ran it…

The music had disappeared too, unless it was just muffled out by the sudden change in the mansion's architecture… and something else had taken its place. A low, hurtful moan rose and fell from one corner of the living room she hadn't even realized she was in, drawing her attention and making her forget everything else for a second.

There was another person here, if the crying and shaking form curled up in the corner was indeed a 'person'. Slowly closing the distance and all senses on high alert, she approached the shape until she was merely a breath away, and once again that uncomfortable feeling of familiarity nagged at her brain. She felt like she was on the brink of pinpointing it, but that opportunity was robbed from her when the shape stopped crying, once again claiming her full attention. It started moving, silvery eyes suddenly glimmering through thick locks of brown hair, and that's when Blake's instinct kicked on full mode, commanding her to run. Now. And fast.

Having little to no control over it, she resigned herself to flee by the first exit she saw… and when she heard rapid footsteps chasing after her, accompanied by a low, furious growl, she was suddenly glad that she had such strong instincts. And also glad she hadn't skipped leg day while working out with Yang. That creature – what the hell this weird amalgam of fur, ears, teeth and gnarling eyes could be – was running fast, and it didn't seem to tire.

Her panicked run abruptly came to a stop at the exact second she crashed into her blonde of a girlfriend, who was apparently as frenzied as she was. Quickly coming back to her feet, she helped Yang do the same while still frequently eyeing behind her. What worried her almost instantly was that the blondie did the same, neither of them even daring to speak as they sucked in deep breaths. But their rest was cut short when two sets of footsteps were suddenly heard, the pair suddenly freezing in anticipation at what had pursued the other… Only for the to exclaim at the exact same time, much more surprised than afraid.

"Ruby?!" came Yang's bemused realization

"Weiss?!"

Then they both turned to each other, confusion growing a little more when the two 'monsters' started to laugh.

Now that the stressing and creepy aura of the house had worn down, Blake realized that the 'thing' pursuing her was nothing more than a young girl disguised as a werewolf, just as she had seen right through Weiss' ghost disguise. And she suddenly felt really embarrassed that she had freaked out because of an – admittedly well done – disguise. Knowing that Yang had fell for the same trap was of little comfort, as it wouldn't prevent her from teasing… But at least she finally had the occasion to meet the blondie's sister, and to reunite with her childhood friend. The fact that they happened to be dating each other was just an added coincidence.

That's how in between a laugh and meeting, each of them completely forgot the haunted mansion.

* * *

Done! I tried to write it extra-long, to make up for all the time I've lost… But in the end I had to cut it short. I originally planned on having a lot more character appear, but I decided against it as it would have taken five more pages.

Anyway it got me a new idea that I'll preciously store and write if I ever find some more time. Expect a spooky mansion, ghosts and demons from me in the future ;P

Review answering ! Yeah! I truly missed that part.

SomeRandoFromTX: Well yeah, I didn't want to use the more obvious option, so I blatantly ignored the rule 63. Also to me it would be like loosing the challenge...

For 'Stripes' I think I'll use the 'earning your stripes' expression. Also thanks for teaching me a cool expression, and I hope you're stille reading even though I had to leave for more than a month...

Just a name : Well thank you, I personally don't se why Yang would be the more 'masculine' of the two... I mean both of them are pretty much feminine, but if anything, Blake is the one who would wear a suit so confidently... like she pretended to be human for a while, so why not pretend being a man for the night?

Anyway, I'm glad I came back... See you next week!


	48. 48 - Childhood

Late, late! I'm always late! And despite the fact that I have bits of free time lately, I've just been focused on other projects of mine amidst some nonsense my brain is creating like fanarts for a "ChivalRWBY" AU…

* * *

For about the millionth time in the evening, Yang sighed before dwelling a little more on her chair. If only things weren't so complicated !

"No Ruby, I can't 'just flirt as I would do with anyone else'. That's my problem!" She said to her phone, her eyes still vigilantly watching over the small swarm of kids placed under her responsibility.

As every evening, she called her sister for some last-minute advice as to how she was supposed to get the attention of the gorgeous raven-haired girl that came later. And as every evening, her sister was of little to no help… Seriously, suggesting that she'd flirt casually? In any other circumstances she would have done it without even thinking, but her job was at stake! Not to mention that openly flirting with someone that literally asked you to watch over their KID seemed a bit rude to her. Just a bit.

Especially when a pretty, young man with red hair and bull horn was the one to entrust her with the little ball of energy every morning. If anything, that alone was a red flag signalling that Blake was already in a relationship, perhaps even married for what Yang knew of the customers… But despite this red signs… Yang couldn't help but hope. After all, the little Aries never called her "Mom", and none of the three ever implied that they were actually related…

It was probably just a false hope, but Yang couldn't just let it go without even trying… Well actually, she could have. But she didn't want to, and being as stubborn as she was, she kept trying to come up with a way of politely asking if anything was possible. Despite all her might she still couldn't find one though…

"BLAAAAAAAAKE!" the sudden outburst of joy caught her off guard amidst her thoughts, forcing her eyes upward toward the ram-horned redhead bouncing up and down in excitement, and then toward her biggest dilemma that had just entered the daycare.

As much as she wanted to bring out her most beaming smile, she still had a job to attend to, which brought a serious frown on her face before she gently scolded the little girl.

"Aries, what did I say about yelling?"

"Uhh… Not to?" she answered, tip-toeing nervously

"Yup. If you want to show that you're happy, you can bounce all your might – the rug is here for that – but don't yell, okay?" Unable to hold her severe façade in front of the rapids and silent nods, she felt her signature smile creep on her face before she turned to Blake. "Hello Blake! How was your day?"

Dipping her head slightly to the side while awaiting the answer, she managed to keep her nervousness in check. To be completely honest, each time it happened : her nervousness went away, but so did her ideas to ask the girl out… And she would mourn about it later on.

"Quite dull actually… Office work… Nothing new, really." Blake said with one of those discreet smile that made Yang's heart melt. "But how was your day?"

"Oh, the usual." Yang said, casually flipping a lock of blonde hair behind her shoulders. "You know, trying to keep this place from burning, making sure that all of them have fun, preventing an apocalypse…"

"Apocalypse? That much?" Blake said, crossing her arms and raising one eyebrow in doubt

"Yeah, Aries lost against Charles. This girl has one heck of a tantrum." Yang said with a smile as her interlocutor did the same

"She really takes after her father… I hope it wasn't too much of a trouble?"

Before Yang could think it through, she started speaking.

"Nah don't worry, it's my job anyway. Speaking of her father, stop me if I'm being intrusive, but I always wondered why she never calls you 'mom' or 'mother' ?"

A second of silence hanged in the air, Yang silently and mentally slapping herself over and over for not thinking before she spoke. It happened more and more often as she discussed with Blake, but still it wasn't a reason for her to be that rude and…

"Well that's easy to answer," Blake interrupted her thoughts, still casually smiling as if it was nothing. "That's because I'm just Adam's friend. I pick her up because of his busy schedule, but I'm more of an aunt than a mother, truly."

"Couldn't have guessed, you two look really close," Yang replied as casually as possible, all the while trying to keep breathing and to maintain her poise. Which was incredibly hard as her nervousness was back full force. "I'll… go fetch her" she added, voice stammering and heart pounding as she started searching for Aries.

She found the little girl in the other room, playing with a jumping ball and seemingly content to be all by herself.

"Hey Aries, ready to go?"

As she nodded, Yang took her in her arms, but before she could push the door back to the entrance, the ram's little voice raised innocently.

"Say, Yang, are you gonna ask Blake out?"

Taken aback by the youth's frankness, it took Yang a few more seconds to get back her breath. Today was definitely a hectic one…

"Well I'd really like to, but I'm still shy."

"No waaaay!" Aries said, leaning back as to see Yang's – blushing – face. "But you're never shy!"

"Well sometimes it happen." Yang said, shrugging.

"Don't worry! I'll help you!"

She was so cute, all enthusiastic and smiling that Yang didn't have the heart to tell her no. Instead, she nodded, smiled and finally got back to the entrance where she found Blake playing Rock-Paper-Scissors with another of the kids. With a discreet smile, the dragon let go of Aries, having already forgotten the previous conversation.

"Blake! Blake! Blake!" The little girl jumped again, but this time she kept her voice at a reasonable level. Yang was about to leave again, back turned to the entrance, when she caught a glimpse of the conversation between the two.

"Yang wanted to ask you something, but she was too shy to do it directly…" the rest was indistinct, but the blondie knew pretty well what was being said between the two. And it brought quite a huge blush on her cheeks.

"So Yang, hitting on me through Aries?" came Blake's taunting voice.

Without even turning back, she knew that a huge, playful smile was on Blake's lips. And somehow that thought made her forget all of her worries, apprehensions… some might even say she immediately forgot all restraint.

"Well, now that I know it's not inappropriate, I might very well be. Would you happen to be free tomorrow's evening?"

"Y… yeah…"

Seeing the raven haired look at the floor, unable to hide a blush redder than Ruby's cape, Yang suddenly thought that she was the only one making everything complicated, from the start. With a huge smile, she winked toward the happily bouncing Aries, before she started thinking on what tomorrow night could be made of. And as she scrambled for a date idea, she felt her smile drop ever so slightly… She was far from being out of the woods.

* * *

So, whaddya all think of this one? I'm pretty satisfied of what I've written, even though I'm less satisfied at the time it took me to write it… Hope you enjoyed nonetheless.

SomeRandoFromTX: Well yeah, I think that's what all writers were talking about… Time flees faster than anything else I've ever seen. Also thanks for your nice comments on "Mansion", I'm glad you liked the way that I wrote it… I thought it would be funnier to do something unexpected. Next one should be Stripes, and I'll be sure to put extra care in it! Though it might mean that it'll take me a little longer to write.

See you all in, I hope, not so long!


	49. 49 - Stripes

Well hello there! As I promised, I'll make this one extra-long. Mostly 'cause I want to x)

For the theme, a kind person answering to SomeRandoFromTX taught me about the "earning your stripes" expressions, to which I thank him profusely, and then I made my research. Turns out that this expression exist in French too, but is exclusively reserved for military jargon… So you can guess where all of this is going.

* * *

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Yang winced at the sudden outburst of fury directed her way. Of course, she was expecting her father to be not-so-thrilled by the news, but to almost literally explode of anger and resentment? Never before had she seen him so infuriated, and she still couldn't understand why.

"You heard me. I engaged into Beacon's special forces, and I'm starting my formation to Paired Up Emergency Intervention." She said, crossing her arms as she felt a frown slowly creeping its way on her once peaceful face.

"You will cancel, immediately. I won't allow it." Taiyang denied abruptly, with the confidence of those who are used to being obeyed.

But it wouldn't work. Not this time. She had complied to what he wanted almost every time, understanding his point of view… but not today. She had made her decision, and she wouldn't back down just because her father told her to do so. Her fingers dug deeper into her arms as she tightened her grasp, barely containing her own displeasure.

"Well spoilers, you can't make me." She said with a smug smile, for once determined to resist.

"Excuse me?!"

"You should get your ears looked at, you seem to deafen with age." She threw, too much on edge to retain her bitter remarks, before pursuing on a calmer tone. "I said that you can't make me. I'm not a child anymore, you're not responsible of me and I do not need your approval to decide of my future."

"It's her, right? SHE poisoned your mind with all of these ideas." The blonde man spitted, his hands abruptly coming against the wooden table separating both of them.

That's probably what made her loose it. The disdain dripping from his voice, the refusal of using her name, the assumption that she was responsible for everything… Yang felt a flicker ignite inside of her, soon followed by the discreet sound of her mane igniting and the change of her eyes to a crimson red. Propelled by that rage, she slammed one of her fists on the table, leaving distinct scorch marks.

"SHE HAS A NAME!" She growled through gritted teeth, before pursuing in a more hushed – but still menacing – tone. "And no, Blake didn't "poison my mind" or anything of the like. It was my idea, and no one else's."

"Jeez, what's wrong with you!" Taiyang pursued, visibly taken aback by his daughter's sudden resistance

"What's wrong with me?!" She started laughing, with a sick and bitter tone. "There's nothing wrong with me. You're the one who can't accept that your daughters have grown, that they're not your little dolls anymore."

"How dare you!"

"I dare everything I want!" she interrupted, not in the mood for one of his lamentable excuses. "We both know that you're the reason why Ruby left!"

She stopped at her own words, suddenly realizing the taboo that she had just crossed. She felt tears stinging her eyes menacingly, and the room fell oddly silent. She tried to say that she was sorry, that she shouldn't have said that, but all she managed to get out was a pained stutter, which was blatantly ignored by the man.

"Get out." He suddenly said.

He wasn't yelling, but his voice was even scarier with such violence contained in a whisper. She tried explaining, apologizing again, only for him to raise a pair of carmine, unyielding eyes on her.

"I said get out. And don't even bother coming back."

She saw the determination in his eyes, heard the inflexibility of his voice… there was no way back. She had passed a tipping point without even realizing it, and she would have to deal with every consequences. Silently, she went to her room and packed what little belongings she had in a used backpack, before coming back down still as quiet as a tomb. Without a word, she took Bumbleby's key while gritting her teeth, but surprisingly no protestation rose. Quickly eyeing the living room, she understood why : once again, her father was drowning his sorrow – and his mistakes – into the amber depth of alcohol. She scrunched her nose in disgust, and left without adding anything else. She was done with this part of her life, done with him.

Her first reflex was to drive, endlessly and aimlessly until she had calmed herself, but she soon abandoned. She couldn't waste fuel, not when she had just fled home – and subsequently lost all kind of income. She rapidly stopped in a gas station, placing her bike against a wall and shaking her mass of blonde hair out of the helmet. She had a few calls to make, the first of them being addressed to her recruiter.

"Ah, miss Xiao Long! I was expecting your call. Everything went well, I hope?" the joyous voice on the other end clashed pretty hard with what she had just been through.

"It was worse than I expected… Do you think I could join the campus earlier?" she couldn't help but nervously run a hand in her hair. She was asking a lot.

"Well of course ! Sadly the barrack for your duo isn't ready yet, but if it is okay with you, we have room in one of the common ward?"

"It's more than I could ask for, thank you very much sir." Relief flooded her. She wouldn't have to find a place to sleep in emergency.

"My pleasure. I just regret that your father doesn't support you in this… know that the whole educational team will be there for you if needed."

"Thanks sir. I should be arriving shortly, I'll just see if Blake needs a ride first. She'll probably need a place to stay too, do you think there could be another place for her? If not, don't worry, I'll share with her." Once again she rubbed her neck, feeling bad for forcing such decisions

"I'll se what I can do, it should be no trouble."

Once she was sure she wouldn't hang up on him, she shut down her phone for a little while. She still needed to call Blake, but she wanted to make sure that she wouldn't hear the tears in her voice. The recruiter had missed them, but it would certainly not be the same with her girlfriend… She was pretty sure that the cat could recognize her breathing in a crowded room, just by the sound it made. And now was not the time to dwell on her problems.

* * *

"Blake, please… tell me that you're just messing with us…" Kali's pleading voice, for once didn't get to her daughter's heart. Quite the opposite actually.

"No mom, I am very serious. I already signed up, and I will go whatever you think or say… I just wished that you'd support me in this."

"She dragged you in this, right?" Ghira sighed, his hand lightly rubbing Kali's sobbing back.

"Stop saying that ! I make my own choices, and I wanted to engage for a while now! I just happened to find SOMEONE who's willing to go alongside me." Blake said, crossing her arms and tilting her hips as she stressed her words. She wanted to push their buttons.

"We just want to protect you kitten… she's not for you…" Ghira softly said, but a slight twitch in his eyes showed Blake that she had reached her goal.

"She'll just break your heart !" Kali insisted, almost bursting in tears.

And it royally pissed Blake off. They hadn't even met her, they had just vaguely seen a picture, and they allowed themselves to judge? How could they even think they knew who she was, when they weren't even able to correctly guess what their daughter's favourite colour was?

"What do YOU know about Yang?! You never even accepted to talk to her!" She added, before suddenly calming down. There was no use in angering herself. "I'm done with this conversation. I'm leaving, and maybe I'll come back when you've learned to not be such judgmental."

And that's how she left her parents, both flabbergasted by her nerves, and went to her room to pick up a neatly folded bag. She was about to start packing, when her phone suddenly rang. It immediately brought a smile to her face as she saw Yang sticking her tongue at the camera. She loved that picture, and as she brought the phone to her ear, she immediately forgot the displeasing conversation she just had.

"So! How's my kittycat doing today?" Came the joyful, cheering voice

"Quite okay actually. I just made clear to my parents that they couldn't forbid me from going. But enough about me, how's the Dragon today?" she said with a smile, irresistibly cheered up just because she was talking to Yang.

"Alright I guess. I did the same, but my father kicked me out in answer."

She could almost hear her shrug… But she could also hear the slight trembling of her voice, and just like that she knew that her love was much more shook than she wanted to tell.

"I'm so sorry Yang… Wanna talk about it?"

"Yeah, but not on the phone. I was going to the campus, do you need a ride?"

"That could help a lot, I kind of told my parents to fuck off until they learnt to respect my choices…" she winced when she remembered her words, still barely believing it herself.

"You did that?" A heartful laugh followed, easing her guilt immensely. "I guess I'm really rubbing off on you! Anyway, I'll text you when I'm here?"

"Deal."

The conversation ended just after Blake heard the familiar roar of Bumbleby setting off. For the next few minutes, she dumbly smiled at her phone, before shaking off of her trance and getting back to packing her things. She had already planned everything in case she wanted to leave, but she was about to use her plan for the first time in her life. A few times later, she had everything ready. From the credit card with a safe account to the change of clothes, she was about as ready as she'd ever be. And luckily for her, her phone buzzed to life with a received message just when she was about to question her decisions.

*I'm in front of your house, waiting for you on my metallic horse. I'd climb your tower and pick you up, but I doubt your parents would be pleased with this… Not to mention the police ~*

She shook her head smiling to the girl's antic, before typing in a quick answer.

*Coming in, on a wing and a prayer*

*Careful tho, I see your parents roaming on the ground floor like hungry lions*

Frowning at the answer, Blake shrug it off and decided that she had made herself clear. She was about to pass right in front of them before she had a better idea, opening her window and quickly gauging the distance separating her from the ground. One stories tall was too much to jump, but she knew she could use the decoys of the façade to her advantage, so she set out to climbing out of her own house, like a teenager sneaking out. Well at least she guessed that's what a teenager sneaking out would do.

When her feet touched the ground, she suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline and the need to run. There was no way her parents could miss her leave now that she was about to cross a plain, grassed garden. So for the second time today, she did something that she would have found unthinkable not two years ago : she literally ran away from home. She heard her parents call her, pleading her to come back.

She blatantly ignored both of them, as well as the – closed – gateway, and focused on her next moves. She had to be perfectly precise as to not injure herself on the edges of the fence. She placed her right foot on the remains of a stump, using it as a foothold to propel herself toward the spiked fence. Right when she was about to scorch her ribs on it, she expertly placed her hand in between the blades, pushing herself upward enough to swing past them in a gracious flip.

Though her back coming violently against the other side of the fence was way less gracious.

She released the fence, trying her best to hide the fact that she was still dizzy from the abrupt stop of movement, and casually walked to Yang. When she was close enough, she heard a muffled whistle coming straight from the blondie, and even though she couldn't figure how she managed to whistle with her helmet on, she was immensely flattered.

"Any regrets?" the blondie said, motioning toward the porch from where her parents watched, her mother visibly crying in her father's shoulder.

"No." She said firmly before she turned to Yang and an idea crossed her mind. "Or perhaps… Just one."

She closed the distance between them, delicately unclenching the helmet and taking it off. Then, just as delicately as before, she raised on the tip of her boots and lovingly placed a kiss on Yang's lips.

"There, all better." She said with a shy smile, handing the helmet back to her.

"Oh my god, you're way too cute!" Yang answered, disregarding the helmet to hug her. "I love you so much…" she added in a whisper, her face still in the crook of Blake's neck.

"I love you too…"

Reluctantly, they pulled away from each other as they still had to go. Blake swiftly placed the crimson red helmet on her head, not failing to notice the mixed smile and wince from Yang as she did so. Painful reminders of her lost sister aside, she seemed pretty downed in comparison to her usual beaming smile. She knew that Yang's father had never been really supportive, but kicking her out had really taken its toll on her dragon, and she promised herself that if she met the man again she'd punch him straight in the face, in hopes that it would make him realize how much he'd hurt his own daughter. But for now they both set off toward the campus of the military school, wind howling as their past was left behind.

* * *

The air was thick, the room filled with the impression of authority that only powerful and respected leaders could create. Though neither Blake or Yang felt pressured by this authority, in the exact opposite being thrilled by the honour made to them. They were the only pair applying in their category, and so Ozpin himself had decided to be their tutor.

"You already know what engaging in the army means : Sacrifice, devotion, loyalty, but above all justice."

They both answered by a firm, affirmative nod which seemed to please their teacher. They were both wearing low-rank military outfits, and surprisingly enough even Ozpin had left behind his Field Marshal suit for a simple, military chaperone one.

"But I want to make sure that you know what being a PEI team means." He paused his pacing for a second, looking at them both straight in the eye. "It means that there is one and one only thing more valuable than your partner's life. It's innocent live. In any other case, your pair's survival is top priority. You have to understand that starting from now, you're one, unique individual, one being composed of two person perfectly synchronized. You have to consider losing your partner as losing one half of your body, as a terrible and unforgivable loss. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" they both answered with the same voice.

"Now let's get you two in shape for the rest of the training. See that obstacle course here? Soldiers are usually unable to pass them without a solid team of minimum four members and a quarter of an hour. We'll work on this until you'll pass it in three minutes."

At these words, Blake and Yang exchanged a look, and both were surprised to find no worry nor doubt in the other's eyes. They trusted Ozpin, and most of all they trusted each other enough to know that they would end up achieving this. Not the first time, not the second time, perhaps not even the hundredth time, but they would end up achieving this.

They both complied to the warm-up exercises, and both had to re-think all of what they thought they knew about their physical condition. They used to think they were in pretty good shape, with Blake daily gym exercises and Yang's double-weekly workout, but being confronted to the military training was another thing entirely. Just when they both thought they were going to die of exhaustion, breath ragged and limbs dolorously burning, their tutor whistled the end of the exercises, relieving them immensely.

Until they were told to confront the obstacle course immediately after.

Their eyes widened as they trotted past the course, obstacles hardening with each step they made toward the start. When finally they got to the starting point, they were faced with perhaps the hardest of all, a six feet tall wall preceded by a dangerously slippery curve which made it top around eight feet tall.

"That's one hell of a wall" Yang whistled admiratively, hands on her hips as she tried to catch her breath.

"You'll have to help me up there… I'll never be strong enough to pull myself up, not after the warm-up," Blake winced, visibly annoyed that she had to ask for help.

"No problem kittycat! Could you give me a boost?"

As Blake nodded, she made a few steps back while her partner placed herself as close to the obstacle as possible, hands cupped in two at knee level. A small nod later, and Yang started running.

She focused on her next steps, as doing so much as side-stepping would be a brutal stop to their plan, and gathered as much energy as she could before freeing all of it in the step just before she placed her foot on Blake's hands. She was planning on barely brushing against them, but was instead met with a surprising force propelling her up, giving her more momentum than she could ask for. Which was a good thing, considering that her previous exhausted jump would have never been enough to attain the top of the wall.

Landing half atop and half face flat on the wall, she luckily remembered to grasp on the other edge despite the wind violently knocked out of her lungs. That sure would leave some serious bruises, but for now she had to climb the remaining of the wall, or all her efforts would have been in vain. Gritting her teeth, she pulled on her arms and after what could have been a solid minute of struggle she finally managed to pass a leg over the edge, soon followed by the rest of her exhausted body. She closed her eyes for a second, trying to catch her breath while still lying on her stomach, before re-opening them. Her motivation - if not her energy – renewed, she secured herself atop the structure, before extending a hand as low as she could to reach Blake.

"I can't go any lower, you'll have to jump" she said, already wincing at the effort it would need to pull her up.

"Okay. I'll take a few steps back"

True to her words, Blake made a few steps back before she started running. This time, as there was no foothold for her to use, she had to fight her way up the slope before jumping. For a second, Yang thought she wouldn't make it, but at the last moment her foot caught an incredibly tiny grasp on the last part of the slope, propelling her straight toward Yang's extended hand.

The rest of the action was dizzy, Yang remembered having pulled with all her might while Blake fought her way up the wall… The only thing that mattered was that they had passed that freaking wall. They exchanged a look, both laughing at how exhausted they seemed after what was probably just a walk in the park for most soldiers… until their eyes fell on the next obstacle. And their smile did too, as they saw the monkey bars hanging over a puddle of – probably ice cold – water. They had only just begun.

Days passed with that hectic rhythm, between gruelling sessions of physical training, weapon formation, basic medicine and emergency protocols. Then, bit by bit, days became weeks and weeks became month, and while Blake was regularly messaging her parents to ensure them that she was perfectly fine, Yang was blatantly ignoring her father's insistent and quite aggressive texts, simply shrugging that he was the one to cut ties from the start.

Luckily for everyone, no civil was authorized within the campus, and Yang was far too focused on her training to bother going out and explaining her point of view. It helped a lot in preventing the city from burning.

And with time passing and this merciless training, with Ozpin pushing them to chase their weaknesses and eliminate them, with the strict lifestyle imposed by the campus… Most of their friends thought they were going to blow a fuse or two, and give up.

And they could have been right, since just as Velvet had pointed out, Blake was now craving for solitude. She absolutely loved Yang, she was thrilled to see that they were improving day by day, further and further… But she was about to go mad. She didn't want solitude, she needed it just as she needed to breathe, and being stuck at Yang's side at all time was starting to hit on her nerves, slightly wearing her determination down.

In Yang's case, constantly being by Blake's side was more of a blessing than a curse, but she had another serious issue. Obeying Ozpin – or Glynda in case of their tutor's absence – was no trouble at all, as she respected their experience and their expert advice on how to train, fight and plan. But obeying some demented watchdog, barely able to hold a gun and wanting nothing but to humiliate the soldiers with a lower grade just to make sure that they'll keep their undeserved rank? That gave her a hard time. She had already received a blame for "insubordination", just because she had mockingly implied that the Lieutenant Cardin was nothing but a lazy upstart and a liar. If he had just shut up on his pretended performances on the obstacle course or just backed up his swagger, none of this would have happened. Neither her mid-voiced insult or the subsequent humiliation she gave him by passing the first obstacles all by herself and defying him to do the same.

Coco had laughed at her when she had announced her engagement in the army, and now she had to admit part of her words were true… Obediently following order was clearly not part of her vocabulary.

But everything wasn't that gleam looking, she just had to power through the formation. After that, she'd never have to answer to those stupid officers, as members of PEI teams were to answer only to the Field Marshal. In quite an ironic manner, they were given an equivalent of the Generals authority in case of an Emergency, as they were specifically trained for such cases. Yang had no real taste for commandment, but knowing that she would be freed of any hierarchy beside perhaps the one person she deemed respectable was a true relief. As for Blake… well she had noticed her nerves growing thinner and thinner with time, so she did her best to give her girlfriend some space by desynchronizing their personal training or simply shutting up and busying herself during some of the free hours they had, leaving the cat peacefully reading as if the outside world did not exist anymore. In fact most of the time she 'busied' herself by watching Blake read, trying to follow the course of the book she was reading just by the way her features shifted. She could have done this four hours – actually she WAS doing that for hours. And somehow, it greatly improved their communication. Blake had always had a knack for reading emotions, but now that Yang had started training daily she was steadily catching up. And as Ozpin had congratulated them on their improving teamwork, she had felt no guilt at all, even when Blake had caught her staring intently. The first time that it had happened, both had looked away with a slight blush, but now they contented themselves with a small, loving smile.

And that's how most of their training passed, time fleeing by as the strict program imposed by Ozpin started to pay off. Their physical form, as well as all kind of reflectiveness had greatly improved, and they almost didn't need words anymore. Of course they still needed to verbally communicate, mostly when the instruction was complex, but they didn't bother making complete sentence anymore. To many, it would have seemed like they were growing distant, as their daily communication became drier and drier with time, but it was quite the opposite.

Less words on the battlefield – or more like on training grounds – didn't mean they had stopped talking at all. After Blake's solitude crisis, they had bound even more tightly, to the point that saying "we" always felt more natural to them than saying "I", to the point that they barely acknowledged each other as someone else, most of the time just fine with sharing their very existence with the other.

And perhaps that was what Ozpin awaited, because he gave them their first mission soon after they had automatedly both taken part in a training that he had directed toward only one of them.

* * *

It was too silent. That's the thought that was roaming in Blake's mind, tormenting her with its constant reminder that the one she loved most was in a critical state. Constantly poking at her sides with guilt and resentment, as she had failed to her task and let Yang endanger herself. And no matter how many times Ozpin would repeat her that she had done exactly what was necessary, that she was right to put innocent lives before her own… She still felt guilty, and weak. She wasn't even able to protect her own partner ! She sniffled, throat itching and tears stinging at her eyes as she thought for the millionth time that she had been stupid and sufficient, persuaded as she was that this mission would be nothing more than the dozen that had passed before.

Rapid footsteps sounded on the hospital's tiled floor, abruptly drawing her from her hurt daze and drawing her hands to her face in an instant reflex. She had to be strong, for whoever would be there and mostly for herself. She pushed a timid smile on her face, hoping that it would be Velvet and Coco visiting, or perhaps even Weiss or Penny. If it was any of them, she knew that her afternoon would be a lot less gloomy. But just as she was starting to smile genuinely, he ears perked up and she got her attention on some crucial detail that she had missed. The footsteps were not only rapid, but also raging.

Immediately, her hand went hovering the grip of her weapon and she switched to a combat stance. She even managed to send a signal to lock the doors a few seconds before her enemy showed. She would never underestimate a threat ever again, especially not when Yang was still in such fragile state. Her breath evened, her shaking ceased and suddenly she was her former, complete self again. Completely focused on the intruder, she was ready for him when a tall, blonde, muscular and surprisingly sober figure turned the angle of the corridor.

The same could not be said of Taiyang tough, as he abruptly stopped around the time it took him to realise his path was blocked by a really, really pissed off Blake. He tried to shove her out of the way, but it only earned him a deadlock on his arm, Blake having let go of her weapon as soon as she had been sure it wasn't an actual threat. As much of an asshole this man could be, he was no more dangerous than a Creep.

"Let me go." He commanded, visibly annoyed by the situation

Blake was about to tell him to fuck off, before she remembered the promise she had made to herself a few years ago, and effectively let go of his arm. Only to deliver a right hook straight to his face, smiling when she saw him massage his jaw, eyes rounded in disbelief.

"Who the HELL do you think you are ?!" he suddenly roared, making Blake cringe when she thought about the hospital's peace suddenly shattered.

To which she answered with an unmasked pride by shoving her stripes under his nose and dutifully reminding him of the authority such rank granted her.

"So, as you can see, I don't "think" I am the one in charge here. I do. And if you forgot, then let me remind you that I am the only one with the authority to allow visitors at Yang's bedside, allowance that I will certainly not give you."

"Who said I shouldn't have the right to see my daughter?!" he fulmined, knowing full well that for once he was the one that had to obey.

"So now she's your daughter uh?" Blake spat, still remembering the weeks that yang had spent slowly getting over her guilt and loneliness. Not to mention her rage. "And actually, your daughter said it. She insisted upon not letting you in if she happened to get hurt, and she also specified that you should not be warned. Which brings me to my question, what the hell are you doing here?" she was weirdly calm.

Somehow this felt like she was making up for her mistakes. As if protecting her girlfriend from her father could make up, just a little bit, for the fact that Blake hadn't been watching her close enough during the fight.

"I told you, I came to see my daughters." Taiyang insisted through gritted teeth.

And that's about when Blake finally noticed the 's' on daughters, and it finally sunk in : despite all her efforts to hush the news, the fact that they had found Ruby had leaked. She cursed under her breath, not because she had once again failed to protect someone – no, Ruby was well aware that it would leak at one point or another, especially when she stayed at her sister's side… No, she cursed because she had lost a bet against Weiss, a bet on how long it would take before Taiyang knew.

"What, surprised I found out? Those nurses are freakin' gossips kiddo, you should know that by now!" he said with a sick smirk. "Now let me see my daughters."

"Wrong, I knew you would end up finding out Ruby was here. In fact she gave me special instructions, would you actually dare show up."

"Yeah? Well then what are you waiting for?"

Silently, she made a few steps to the side to place herself right where the camera couldn't see her anymore. Then her knee violently met the man's groin, inevitably drawing a pained, high-pitched squeak and a smile on Blake's lips as she murmured "Compliments from Ruby".

Then she spoke with a normal volume, covering her – quite illegal – gesture :

"You don't seem alright. I'll help you out, I'm sure one of the nurse will be able to help you."

She brought a shocked and way too much in pain to resist Taiyang to the entrance of the service, before spinning around and locking the doors shut behind her. The last thing she heard was Taiyang cursing her with a small voice, with his throat still visibly blocked by the mix of shock and pain she hoped he was experiencing right now.

She walked back to her previous place, this time deciding that she could allow herself inside the room, had Yang had obviously been woken up by the ruckus anyway. Delicately, she opened the door and her hear missed a beat, just as each time she saw her. Her eyes slowly trailed on the mane of blonde hair spilled on the pillow, a little tarnished by the weak state of its owner, and she lovingly followed the curves of her neck until finally their eyes met. And despite the paleness of her skin, despite the dark circles straining her cheeks, despite the constant beeping of her life support… She was beautiful. Perhaps even more beautiful than ever, as her lilac eyes instantly lighted when they met.

"Kicked his ass?" a weak, but definitely smug smile stretched her lips as she said so, Ruby displaying the exact same as they awaited her answer.

"You bet I did." Blake answered, her smile renewed. "I did so hard that it shoved him out of here."

Smiling, she sat at Yang's bedside along Ruby, and as she told them the full story, Yang delicately took her hand in hers, and that simple gesture reassured Blake. It reminded her that Yang was here, and even if she was hurt, she would survive. It reminded her that she had not lost her other half.

* * *

And that's all folks ! Thanks a lot for reading that long chapter, and thanks to all those who read the story up to this point. The next chapter will be a lot shorter, but will also have a special meaning : it'll mark one half of the challenge. Also I wanted to use that opportunity to tell you that today, the 20th November, marks the Transgender Remembrance Day. So, my full support to all those struggling, and We Remember.

SomeRandoFromTX: Thank you for your kind words ! Also yeah, of course. I'm not even sure kids understand what 'subtlety' is x) I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and good luck with your essays / homework !

See you soon, I hope !


	50. Chapter 50

Halfway point, such a milestone ! I regularly look back on what I've written so far, and even though some chapters were just plain lame and some other nice but just not really satisfying… I'm pretty proud of what I've done so far. And as we're speaking of proud, what a sweet irony that it's today's theme ! When I first saw that the milestone would be 'Proud', I knew what I was going to write. So on with the story, and I hope you'll enjoy it !

* * *

The day was bright and the air vibrant, filled with the calm but joyous chatter of students, professor and headmasters alike. As the four main school joined together under the Amity Colosseum, their representant merged together, all rivalries pushed aside for the sake of this day. Of course not everyone was there, but for all the people chatting together, it was enough of a success.

As far as the eye could see in that quite dense crowd, coloured flags were proudly shown to the world. Whether waved around on a stick, sewn on the clothes or even painted on various body parts – cheeks, hands… - Everyone wore one of them.

Letting her eyes trail, Yang felt a smile creep to her face when she saw Scarlet parading around, his usual red cape replaced by a bright genderfluid flag, while Sun, Sage and Neptune cheered him, all four wearing a straight ally badge. Whoever saw him confidently walking from one end of the crowd to the other could not imagine how worried he had been just the day before, going so far as to lock himself in his room because "he'd never dare wear THAT!"… Except maybe the rest of his team.

A little further away, Ozpin was calmly taking a sip from his heat-changing mug, the cold part showing an agender flag while the other steamed with a pansexual flag. How did he get his hand on such object was a mystery, but it sure was fancy. Just to his side, Glynda was tenderly watching over the students surrounding them, a discreet smile on her lips and a sober, perhaps event lavish asexual flag on her shoulder.

Everywhere she posed her eyes, Yang saw other people happily participating in this Gay Pride.

Ironwood was to her left, patiently waiting while Ruby and Weiss painted a straight ally flag on each of his cheek. The entire team JNPR was in her back, distributing flags to everyone entering the crowd and asking for it, Ren even having tinted his usually pink lock into a multicolour bisexual flag. From the corner of her eyes, she even saw Mercury, Cinder and Emerald respectively wearing a gay, bisexual and lesbian flag. While the first two seemed to at best not care at worst be annoyed by all the manifestation, the latest seemed to have trouble getting rid of her blush.

She felt a nudge in her side, and it immediately brought her full attention back to the person standing with her. And as each time she looked at her, her heart sked a step, beating twice as harder the second after as if to make up for lost time. She loved this woman, to the moon and beyond… How she loved the playful twirl of her lips, the mischievous glint in her eyes, the subtle twitch of her ears under her ribbon… All those little details, invisible under her cool demeanour but so obvious to trained eyes, all those signs revealing that she was currently having a blast.

Which, in a crowded event, was very rare considering her shy habits. And it inexplicably brought a smile to her lips, and a joy to her heart, to know that her girlfriend was having fun despite the people cramming around. Well in fact, considering that she generally lived to see the people she cared about smile, it was only logical that she felt thrilled by the sheer sight of her happiness. Not to mention that Blake had the cutest of reactions when she felt truly comfortable, ranging from slightly nudging her side to purring. In mean of an answer, Yang simply tightened her grasp around Blake's waist, delicately planting soft kisses on her forehead and neck. No words were needed between them, as they both had voiced their love countless times before, and it filled those simple gestures with the meaning of a thousand words.

If there was anything to retain from this day, it was the vibrant and invigorating sound of joy, but mostly pride, beaming through the event.

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Here we are, the milestone passed. Quite an adventure, ain't it? I hope this one wasn't too cliché, even if it will most certainly be regarding the theme. I'm glad I've managed to write on 50 themes, and I hope I'll hold on until all 100 (and perhaps even more) are written, tough and through.

SomeRandoFromTX: My my, quite the handful of compliment you made in your last review! I'm truly glad you liked it, I had a hella lot of fun writing it. Also yeah, the whole military thing was a bit unexpected, though it probably made one of my favourite AU kind for RWBY (that and medieval fantasy). Also yeah, some parts still feel rushed – and I had to cut down almost as much as I've written – but somehow it managed to feel okay. Definitely one of the chapters I'll be immensely proud of.

I'm also very flattered that you're considering revisiting the old ones :3

Anyhow, see you all for the next half ! And thank you for reading me through at least 51 073 words of mushy shipper fanboying over and over again on the same pair.


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